Ignorance, fear may turn away AstraZeneca recipients, says analyst

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PETALING JAYA: Negative reports, incomplete understanding of the AstraZeneca vaccine and fear may turn away some elderly folk from being vaccinated, a health policy analyst said.

Azrul Mohd Khalib, chief executive of the Galen Centre, said the fear of the vaccine was mostly based on ill-informed or incomplete understanding about a blood clot problem among some AstraZeneca recipients.

“Due to the negative news and debate surrounding this vaccine, there will be many who might not want to get their jabs, there will be no-shows or some may not even bother to register to be vaccinated,” he said.

Malaysian Medical Association president Dr Subramaniam Muniandy said: “We need to emphasise that those most at risk of adverse events are not the elderly or vulnerable groups. They are the young.


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