A man uses the MySejahtera trace feature. – Picture by Ahmad Zamzahuri
KUALA LUMPUR, March 28 — The Ministry of Health (MoH) is aware of a viral message on social media claiming that the government will wipe off digital Covid-19 vaccine certificates of two million vaccinated people who refuse to get their booster shot. The message urged people to take a screenshot for safekeeping just in case MoH “mistakenly” clears your record.
The MoH has refuted the message as fake news and assures that the MySejahtera app will not remove an individual’s vaccine records. It clarified that Sinovac recipients, as well as senior citizens (fully vaccinated with any Covid-19 vaccine brands) who are not boosted on 1st April, will have their status changed from Fully Vaccinated to Partially Vaccinated.
Initially, the government has announced that Sinovac recipients and senior citizens will lose their fully vaccinated status if they don’t get a booster by February 2022. Eventually, the deadline has been extended to 31st March 2022. The government is recommending boosters for these groups as research shows a reduced vaccine efficacy rate against the Covid-19 Omicron variant.
As of 25th March 2022, an estimated 2.37 million people are expected to lose their fully vaccinated status on MySejahtera if they do not get their booster jab. Unboosted individuals can book their booster appointment directly via MySejahtera. Although the recommended boosters are Pfizer and AstraZeneca, the health authorities are allowing Sinovac recipients to choose Sinovac or CanSino Bio as their preferred booster.
According to the MoH’s latest vaccination status guidelines, individuals fully vaccinated with Sinopharm vaccine (two-dose) will also lose their fully vaccinated status on 1st April unless they get a booster shot. Individuals fully vaccinated with Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca, Covaxin, Covishield, Novavax, Sputnik V, CanSino, Jannsen, and SputnikLight will still retain their Fully Vaccinated status even if they don’t get boosted.
At the moment, boosters are only recommended for adults aged 18 years old and above. The MoH has acknowledged a bug whereby some teens receive a booster appointment and adults receive a 4th dose appointment. If you do get it, you are urged to cancel the appointment. — SoyaCincau