Covid-19 vaccine: Does the brand matter?MAY 24, 2021 @ 9.38AM
"We should focus on the ultimate goal in achieving herd immunity," Dr Ming-Lee Ng, Medical Director, DOC2US.
Based on the questions received by its COVID-19 Task Force via the Government’s integrated platform, MySejahtera app, one of the most frequently asked questions in recent months is “Does the brand of COVID-19 vaccine matter?”.
Dr Ming-Lee Ng, Medical Director of DOC2US explains that different brands of COVID-19 vaccines have varying efficacies and it gets complicated when different brands measure efficacy differently. "Instead of getting into the nitty-gritty of each brand, we should focus on the ultimate goal in achieving herd immunity by having at least 80% of the adult population in Malaysia vaccinated," he said. According to Our World In Data, only 2.5% of the Malaysian population is fully vaccinated as at 18 May, lagging behind the global figure of 4.7%. Dr Raymond Choy, Chief Executive Officer of DOC2US pointed out that some of the most frequently asked questions received by the task force on COVID-19 and related issues are: Does the brand of COVID-19 vaccines matter? The short answer is: No, the brand does not matter. 
2. What if you suddenly don’t feel like receiving the vaccination on that day? Can you just ditch the appointment?
Technically you can. Receiving a vaccination is a voluntary action, you won’t be criminalised for ditching your COVID-19 appointment. However, unless you have a valid reason, you SHOULDN’T miss your COVID-19 vaccination appointment. 
3. How to report adverse effects following COVID-19 vaccination?
4. Can you tell me more about blood clots and COVID-19 vaccines?
Authorities in certain countries speculated that AstraZeneca's or Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccines are linked to a few rare but serious blood clotting cases. To be fair, when we said that these two vaccines are linked to rare but serious blood clotting cases, we don’t mean that the vaccines cause the blood clot; it’s just that these two vaccine and certain blood clot cases seemed to have some unclear connection, but it doesn’t imply causation. At this stage, scientists simply do not know enough to answer that. 
5. Should pregnant women receive COVID-19 vaccine?
At the moment, no study to date has specifically evaluated the COVID-19 vaccine in pregnant and lactating women. In other words, we don’t have enough data to inform us how safe the COVID-19 vaccine is in such a population. This DOES NOT mean that COVID-19 vaccine is unsafe for pregnant and breastfeeding women, it’s just that we don’t know its safety for sure. 
6. Are more young people in Malaysia infected by COVID-19?
According to an analysis published, although elderly aged 65 years old and above still comprised 59.5% of the death cases; the death rates among young people (25 to 54 years old) exceeded those who are slightly older, i.e. aged 55 to 64 years old, from March 31 to May 4, 2021. In other words, more and more younger people in Malaysia have been admitted into ICU or died of COVID-19. 
7. I'm Covid positive and currently in home quarantine. However, I have yet to receive a call from the Ministry of Health. What should I do now?
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