JOHOR BARU, Jan 4 — A total of 56.7 per cent of the people in Johor have received their first booster shot and only 1.8 per cent their second booster vaccine against Covid-19 as of Jan 3, according to a state executive councillor.

State Health and Unity Committee chairman Ling Tian Soon said as of yesterday, 87 per cent of the population in the state had received primary doses of the Covid-19 vaccine.

“The protection provided by this Covid -19 vaccine decreases after a certain period, depending on the prevailing variant.

“Therefore, people in Johor, especially the high-risk groups, are advised to get vaccinated to reduce the risk of severe infection and death,” he said in a statement today.

Ling advised those who have yet to receive a primary or booster shot to get their jabs at one of the listed clinics or hospitals.

He said vaccination could be done on a walk-in or appointment basis at 12 hospitals or 81 vaccination centres (PPV) and health clinics throughout the state from next Monday.

On Dec 29, the Health Ministry recommends that frontliners and the public, especially high-risk groups, get a booster dose of the vaccine following the recent surge in Covid-19 cases in China.

Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah, in the latest post on his official Facebook, said that although Covid-19 cases in the country were currently under control and decreasing, precautions must be taken. — Bernama