KUALA LUMPUR, July 12 — The proposed guidelines for individuals who received two doses of the Covid-19 vaccines should be clear, consistent and include proper standard operating procedures (SOPs) to protect the health and safety of employees and the public.

Malaysian Employers Federation (MEF) president Datuk Syed Hussain Syed Husman said the SOPs should still apply to those who completed the vaccination as there was no guarantee that they would be fully protected against Covid-19.

"Based on the experiences of other countries thus far, fully vaccinated individuals are allowed to move freely and that those infected suffered less severely, not requiring intensive care and thus do not over burden the public health system.

"But, there is no clinical evidence (yet) to show that those who received two doses of the vaccine would be free from Covid-19 as the mutations and emergence of new and more virulent variants had no clinical evidence to show that the vaccines would be effective protection,” he said in a statement today.

He said this in response to recent reports that Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Adham Baba would present the proposed guidelines for those who have completed their vaccination to the National Security Council (NSC).

Syed Hussain said MEF is concerned for the safety and health of all employees, including those who had received the vaccine, and proposed that the government establish a platform whereby adverse events, if any, could be recorded, monitored and reported.

He said the authorities should ensure that the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme and related guidelines include awareness programmes on the benefits and risks of the vaccinations in accordance with the rights of the individual, professional medical ethics and the legal principles of informed consent.

"The lives of the rakyat must be held sacred and be protected and by putting in place such interventions would also help validate the vaccine’s safety and efficacy and dispel rumours and fake news.

"We are of the view that the proposed guidelines for those who received two vaccine doses should be subjected to SOPs and should not discriminate individuals who have not yet received two doses of the vaccine to avoid human rights violations, legal complications and negative social control policies,” he said.

MEF also urged the authorities to involve industry stakeholders, professional medical practitioners, as well as experts in other fields in the formulation of the SOPs to ensure its practicality and effectiveness for the benefit of all parties.

 "There has to be collective responsibility between the stakeholders to deal effectively with Covid-19.  We hoped the guidelines would be standardised, clear and without variations to avoid confusion to both employers and employees.

"There should only be one policy for the proposed guidelines under one agency to handle all the queries,” he added. — Bernama