PETALING JAYA, June 14 Covid-19 isn’t the only deadly cough that pregnant mothers have to worry about during this pandemic. Local cases of pertussis, commonly known as whooping cough, have risen sharply from just eight in 2005 to a whopping 915 in 2019, according to data from the Health.
KLANG: There are still many who are against being vaccinated, believing that they are under no risk of getting infected.
Given this mindset among Malaysians at a time when there is a health crisis, the government should look into making inoculation compulsory for everyone, said Malaysian Society of Infectious Diseases and Chemotherapy president Dr Zamberi Sekawi.
“Generally, people cannot be forced to get themselves vaccinated due to human rights and patient autonomy issues.
“Even the World Health Organisation said last year that people must not be compelled to be vaccinated.
“But under the current situation whereby our intensive care units are full and treatment is being compromised because of this, I personally believe the government must make vaccination compulsory for all, ” he said.