PUTRAJAYA: The government is looking into easing movement restrictions, including the freedom to travel across state borders, for people who are fully vaccinated against Covid-19.
Khairy Jamaluddin, the minister coordinating the national immunisation programme, said health and science experts are looking into the privileges and freedoms that could be granted to those fully vaccinated.
Their findings would be presented to the National Security Council for a decision, he said.
The committee would consider data obtained from other countries and study the matter from a clinical aspect. “For example in the United States, the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention has issued a guideline for fully vaccinated people, such as allowing them to remove their face masks when meeting in a room,” he said.
Khairy said those who have completed the vaccination regime will have a yellow profile on their MySejahtera application, which would act as a vaccine passport that will allow them a certain degree of freedom.
He said the government was also negotiating with other countries including Singapore for mutual recognition of the vaccination passport.
However, Malaysians must continue to adhere to hygiene and safety protocols even if they have been fully vaccinated.
“Vaccination is very important for us to rehabilitate the country but existing SOPs such as physical distancing, wearing face masks and others must continue to be emphasised and enforced,” he said.
On whether Covid-19 would become an endemic disease requiring booster shots, he said the matter was still being investigated. “If we see a drop in neutralising antibodies among those vaccinated then we may have to decide on giving a third booster shot for these people,” he said.-FMT