KUALA LUMPUR – The surge in vaccination rate in the Klang Valley is beginning to show great results, with the Covid-19 situation in hospitals and quarantine centres here set to improve drastically by next month.
Health Director-General Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said intensive care units (ICUs) in health facilities will also be much less crowded by the end of September, after Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, and Putrajaya achieved herd immunity among their adult population.
Klang Valley is currently only second to Labuan in terms of percentage of fully vaccinated adults, with 86.9% of the adult population immunised as of yesterday, while 109.9% have received at least a single dose of the vaccine.
“We know that with increasing vaccination, the severity of infection is less. There will also be less hospital admissions plus less utilisation of ICU beds,” Dr Noor Hisham told The Vibes today.
“But ICU bed utilisation, which is the mean hospital stay, will only be obvious after three to four weeks.”
Dr Noor Hisham said the same outcome is being experienced in other states with high vaccination rates, such as Labuan, Sarawak, and Negri Sembilan.
Labuan currently has 92.8% of its adult population fully vaccinated, while Sarawak and Negri Sembilan are at 85.9% and 74.5% respectively.
The three states, along with the Klang Valley, also have the highest vaccination rates when including children aged below 18.
Nationwide, 59.1% of the adult population have received two doses of the vaccine, while 80.3% have received at least one shot.
Dr Noor Hisham was commenting on a viral post on social media showing the Covid-19 integrated quarantine and treatment centre at Malaysia Agro Exposition Park Serdang being less occupied than in past weeks.
The post, which was uploaded by one Fadilah, saw one of the centre’s halls half empty, with many of the beds unoccupied.
“Those requiring oxygen have also significantly reduced. Thank you all who have taken the vaccine, we love you,” she said.
Her post was shared by Twitter user and public health specialist Dr Khairul Hafidz, who described it as very good news.
Alhamdulillah, berita yang sangat baik. pic.twitter.com/Mdkwn4mD47
— Khairul Hafidz (@khairul_hafidz) August 25, 2021
Another post by @nazirahzubaidi showed that the situation at the Covid-19 assessment centre at Stadium Malawati in Shah Alam has also significantly improved, with none of the visible long queues that have often been the case in the past. – The Vibes, August 26, 2021
CAC Stadium Melawati pun dah lengang ? https://t.co/85a5MzqSpw pic.twitter.com/IXEOKOMeDH
— Naz (@nazirahzubaidi) August 25, 2021
