Covid-19 variants and sub-variants found in China have been detected in Malaysia, says Health Minister Dr Zaliha Mustafa

Covid-19 variants and sub-variants found in China have been detected in Malaysia, says Health Minister Dr Zaliha Mustafa.

She says this is based on information reported by China to the WHO, following a high-level meeting between the UN agency and Beijing on Dec 30, 2022.

MOH will step up measures and preparations to face any possible increase of Covid-19 cases, including tightening the SOP for health checks at the country’s borders.

Zaliha says this will be implemented if necessary on all travellers from around the world, not just from China.

Zaliha also calls on Malaysians to get their second booster dose, and not to wait for the bivalent vaccine.

She says the existing monovalent vaccines are still effective in reducing serious symptoms and deaths.

Meanwhile, the WHO has invited Chinese scientists to present detailed data on viral sequencing at a meeting of the Technical Advisory Group on SARS-CoV-2 Virus Evolution tomorrow (Jan 3).