KUALA LUMPUR, July 9 — The Special Committee for Ensuring Access to Covid-19 Supply (JKJAV) today announced that Covid-19 patients who have recovered from the disease no longer need to wait three months before they can be vaccinated.
The committee said that the decision was made after a meeting yesterday.
It stressed that vaccination for recovered Covid-19 patients were still necessary because the latest medical evidence showed that while a natural infection of the virus yielded adequate “protection” for three months, the emergence of new virus variants expedited the need for former patients to receive a vaccine.
“Accordingly, former Covid-19 patients who have been confirmed to be free of the Covid-19 virus are now allowed to be vaccinated at vaccination centers according to the appointments that have been given,” it said in a statement.
However, the JKJAV said there was exception to the new decision, where Covid-19 patients who received “anti-SARS-CoV-2 monoclonal antibodies” or “convalescent plasma” as part of their treatment for the disease will still need to wait at least 90 days after recovering to receive their vaccine.
It said this was a precaution being taken to avoid possible interference between “antibody therapy” and immune response caused by the vaccine.
JKJAV also urged members of the public who are waiting for Covid-19 test results to not go to vaccination centres even if they have appointments or while accompanying someone else.
“Those that are forced to cancel their appointments will be given a new date automatically,” it reminded.
Earlier this month, the Ministry of Health said that Covid-19 virus variants had become an increasing concern, with 25 Covid-19 cases involving Variants of Concern and three cases involving Variants of Interest detected in the country between June 23 and June 30.
Today, Malaysia recorded the highest number of daily Covid-19 cases recorded here in one day, with 9,180 cases.
