Prime Minister Mahiaddin Md Yasin is supporting Deputy Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s claims that Malaysia is on the right track to achieve herd immunity based on the daily vaccination rate as amongst the highest in the world and now exceeding the world average per capita. In the midst of this horrifying pandemic, where the daily infections have reached a record 11,079 and the 125 new deaths yesterday with a cumulative 6,385 death toll, such boasts are inappropriate and irresponsible.
More so when both leaders carelessly ignore the fact that soaring cases of new daily infections are also above the world average. According to ourworldindata.org, Malaysia’s average COVID-19 cases per million people on July 12 is 265 cases or nearly 5 times worse compared to the world’s average of 57 cases. This is based on 8,574 cases on July 12 and not the record 11,079 cases on July 13. The positivity rate on July 13 based on number of tests done producing infections is still high at 9.48% which is above the World Health recommended 5%.
By only relying on vaccination rate alone without taking into account the record number of daily infections and deaths, what type of normalcy can the country achieve when the country achieves herd immunity. The Economist recently placed Malaysia last or 50 out of 50 countries in its normalcy index for countries recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic.
We expected nothing from a Prime Minister that has failed but had hoped for something refreshing and uplifting from a new Deputy Prime Minister. However, Ismail Sabri has rapidly disappointed by declaring that the country will quickly return to normal by only relying on vaccination but not on mass screening to curb the rise in infections.
Unless there is a spectacular increase in vaccination rates, there is every possibility that herd immunity of 80% of the population may be achieved not just by inoculation but also by infection. Worse, both the Director-General of Health and the Senior Minister of International Trade and Industry are openly criticising each other on social media.
With such a dysfunctional and divided government, there is no hope that PN has the capability and capacity to handle the escalating COVID-19 crisis. Mahiaddin should resign as Prime Minister and make way for a new government with a fresh thinking and professional approach to deal with not only COVID-19 but also the economic crisis.