Number of infected health workers 10 times lower after immunisation exercise - MOSTI

KUALA TERENGGANU: The number of health personnel reported to have been infected with COVID-19 after completing their vaccination regime under the immunisation exercise is 10 times lower than the number of cases reported among health workers before the vaccination process, said Deputy Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation (MOSTI) Datuk Ahmad Amzad Hashim.

Ahmad Amzad said an average of 436 cases of infection among health workers were reported in a month when the first wave of COVID-19 hit the country in March last year.

According to him, Health Director-General Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said in a statement in February 2021, nearly 4,800 health workers were infected with COVID-19 between March 2020 and February 2021 or an average of 436 people a month.

Yesterday, Dr Noor Hisham said 40 health workers were infected with COVID-19 after completing their jabs, where nine of them were reported to have been infected after more than two weeks of receiving their second dose while 31 of them were infected less than two weeks after their inoculation.

“The total of 40 health workers infected with COVID-19 compared to 438,000 individuals who have completed two doses of the vaccine is a very small percentage.

"This is because 99.9 per cent of the individuals who have completed the two doses of the vaccine are not infected even though they are front-line workers who deal with COVID-19 patients on a daily basis," he said in a statement today.

He said the 40 infected health workers did not experience any severe symptoms caused by the disease.

Ahmad Amzad, who is also Kuala Terengganu member of parliament, said the development was in line with the implementation of the National COVID-19 Immunisation Programme which aimed to reduce the number of infections and reduce severe symptoms experienced by the patients as well as not pose life-threatening risks to them.

-- BERNAMA