Malaysian Muslim Restaurant Owners Association (Presma) president Jawahar Ali Taib Khan said the directive for Sinovac recipients to get their booster shots before March 1 was too abrupt.

Saying it came across like “intimidating” the public, Jawahar added that some Sinovac recipients had encountered side effects after receiving their first two doses.

“They need time to decide on a booster shot,” he told FMT.

On Feb 7, health minister Khairy Jamaluddin said all individuals aged 60 and above or Sinovac recipients aged above 18 needed to take their booster shots before March 1.

Failure to do so would render their status on the MySejahtera app changed to “not fully vaccinated”, he said.

Jawahar said that if the government stuck to the deadline, it might affect the number of customers at restaurants, which were already badly affected by the pandemic.

“Currently, only two doses are needed to enter restaurant premises. If the booster dose directive comes into place, this will affect businesses.

“The government should extend the requirement to get booster shots until May,” he said.

Federal Territory Malay Hawkers and Petty Traders Association secretary-general Sharin Darus said the government must give serious attention to the low rate of booster shots to avoid disrupting economic activities.

“The government should step up its vaccination efforts. We want the situation to improve as most of the traders have been badly affected by restrictions during the past two years,” he told FMT.

The health ministry said only 13 million booster doses had been given as of Feb 13.

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