Why has Malaysia paused its plan to treat Covid-19 as endemic?

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Malaysia paused its plan to treat Covid-19 as endemic due to the emergence of the Omicron variant
Malaysia paused its plan to treat Covid-19 as endemic after the emergence of the Omicron variant, with the government saying it needed time to monitor how Omicron was developing. Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin had announced the initial shift to treating Covid-19 as endemic on September 1, 2021, following vaccination progress. The government later said it had hit the “pause” button to closely monitor Omicron rather than proceed with looser restrictions.
The endemic plan was announced for September 1, 2021
The government’s plan was linked to vaccination coverage reaching around 90 per cent of adults last year. On September 1, 2021, Khairy Jamaluddin announced that the Covid-19 pandemic would be treated as an endemic disease, which would mean it is seen as native to Malaysia and would allow for looser restrictions.
The government said it paused after Omicron emerged
As Omicron cases emerged, the government stated it had paused the endemic shift to monitor the variant’s emergence. The decision was described as a “pause” specifically tied to the need to watch Omicron closely before proceeding.
Monitoring Omicron was the stated reason for the delay
Senior minister in charge of security, Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein, said that without close monitoring of Omicron, authorities would not know how to deal with it. This framing placed the pause directly on the emergence and spread monitoring of Omicron rather than on the earlier vaccination-based timeline.
The pause came after the initial endemic goal had been set
Even though the endemic approach had been set in motion in early September, the government later moved to stop the transition as of November 31, 2021. The change highlighted that the Omicron variant temporarily halted the broader move by governments to drop pandemic-related restrictions and return to normal economic and social activity.

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Why has Malaysia paused its plan to treat Covid-19 as endemic?

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