Recently, Malaysia health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah has revealed that forty health workers have contracted Covid-19 after completing their vaccination doses.

In his Facebook post, he said that 31 of them were infected less than 14 days after receiving the second dose, while nine contracted the virus more than two weeks later.

“All has less severe symptoms. It is clear that we still can be infected after the completion of vaccination but perhaps with less severity,” he said.

The importance of getting Covid vaccination

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Covid-19 vaccination is an important tool to help us get back to normal as the vaccines teach our immune systems how to recognise and fight the virus that causes Covid-19.

While it typically takes two weeks after vaccination for the body to build immunity against the virus, a person could still get infected by the Covid-19 before or just after vaccination and then get sick because the vaccine did not have enough time to provide protection.

However, people who have been fully vaccinated against Covid-19 should keep taking precautions in public places, such as wearing a mask, maintaining a safe distance, avoiding crowds and poorly ventilated spaces, and washing your hands often.

Issues with some pre-existing vaccines

There have been several reports of blood clots in some people who had been vaccinated with the AstraZeneca shot.

On April 16, Australia reported its first death from blood clots linked to the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine after the country’s regulator said a 48-year-old woman’s fatality was “likely” linked to the shot.

According to the Straits Times, the woman died four days after receiving the vaccination.

Similarly, ABC News has reported that the Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine is still on pause in the US after reports of a rare but severe blood clotting disorder in a small number of the roughly 7 million people who have received the shot.

However, experts have cautioned that even if there is a link, current evidence suggests the risk of developing a blood clot after getting the vaccine is extremely low – lower, in fact, than being struck by lightning, as reported by ABC News. So far, there has no reported news of blood clot from the usage of AstraZeneca vaccine in Malaysia.