Article 5

Let's fight Covid-19 together

Right now, each country manages its own Covid-19 pandemic crisis by being oblivious or taking
only a cursory interest in what is happening outside.
An example is when almost all countries banned the entry of people from South Africa and
Botswana after they had reported cases of the Omicron variant.
Yes, a ban is needed to prevent the spread of Omicron, but what about the economic fallout to
these countries from the ban?
This will only encourage countries in future not to report the emergence of new strains because
only "punishment" will ensue.
We need international cooperation to create a fund to help these countries alleviate an economic
fallout from a ban.
Another area of collaboration is vaccine equity across the globe, championed by the World
Health Organisation (WHO).
It targets for 70 per cent of the world's population to be fully vaccinated by July, which will help
end the acute phase of the pandemic.
Based on the rate of vaccine rollout, 109 countries will miss WHO's target.
WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said: "Booster after booster in a small
number of countries will not end a pandemic while billions remain completely unprotected."
He has a point because if world leaders have an indifferent attitude to the huge number of
unvaccinated people outside their country, it will be these unvaccinated people that may spread
the virus to their country once they reopen their borders.
Although a study from Imperial College, London, suggests the best protection comes from three
Covid-19 vaccine shots, which is why countries have rolled out booster dose programmes, it's
not sustainable to administer boosters every three to six months.
So, instead of a fourth dose, just ensure that 90 per cent of the adult population in Malaysia have
a third booster jab and encourage the unvaccinated through the carrot-and-stick approach to get
their first dose.
Also, instead of a fourth dose, make it more routine with an annual dose, even if Omicron has
been brought under control.
The annual dose should start from this October, beginning with those who have completed their
third dose last October.
Worldwide evidence shows it is the unvaccinated that forms the majority of deaths.
In Singapore, unvaccinated people accounted for 70 per cent of the republic's Covid-19 deaths
last year: 555 out of 802 deaths.
Dr Rochelle Walensky, director of the United States' Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
said unvaccinated people were about six times more likely to test positive than vaccinated
people, nine times more likely to be hospitalised, and 14 times more likely to die from Covid-
related complications.
This prompted US President Joe Biden, during a meeting on Covid-19 on Jan 4, to characterise
the surge in Delta and Omicron cases as "a pandemic of the unvaccinated".
Malaysia should release data on the number of Covid-19 deaths among the unvaccinated to open
the eyes of those who refuse to get vaccinated and their supporters.
Thus, from sharing health data to solving global supply chain issues, Covid-19 has reiterated the
importance of international cooperation and increasing support for multilateralism.
Even at the local level, action and inaction can affect global health.
This is what the whole-of-world approach is all about: different in magnitude but similar in
concept to the whole-of-government or the whole-of-society approach.
Source: https://www.nst.com.my/opinion/letters/2022/01/763882/lets-fight-covid-19-together