On 17 April, health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said that 40 healthcare workers had been tested positive for COVID-19 despite having been vaccinated.

Dr Noor Hisham, in a Facebook post, said that out of the total number, nine were infected more than two weeks after the second dose was given while the rest were infected within two weeks of full vaccination.

It takes two weeks after the final dose of any vaccination for the person who is fully vaccinated to be safer. Even then, it's not 100% effective.

According to the post, 142 others were also tested positive after the first dose of vaccination.

"More importantly, all had less severe symptoms. It is clear that we still can be infected after completion of vaccination but perhaps less in severity.

"No one is safe until everyone is safe. Please continue to comply to all the precautionary public health measures, (3Cs and 3Ws)," Dr Noor Hisham wrote.

No one is safe until everyone is safe

No one is safe until everyone is safe

Considering that the COVID-19 vaccines are new, as is the disease itself, there's a lot experts don't know yet.

However, what they do know about vaccination, in general, is that it only works well when herd immunity (i.e. a large part of the population of a place) has been inoculated.

Based on that, it isn't really surprising that those who have been vaccinated can still get infected.

Vaccines are also not 100% effective, so it's important for everyone to continue staying safe.

So what can and can't you do after you get vaccinated?

1# Continue to follow SOPs

By SOPs, we don't mean the ever-changing ones by the government, but all the precautionary public health measures.

Make sure you avoid close contact, confined spaces and crowding.

Wash or sanitise your hands often, wear your masks and warn others to continue following the steps too.

This is especially important when you are going to public places where there are others who may not have gotten their vaccine shots.

Ultimately, it's still best to stay in as much as possible and limit contact with others.

There's a little bit more leeway if you're already vaccinated though.

2# Avoid large social gathering

If you, your family and friends have been vaccinated and two weeks have passed, you can gather in close spaces without your masks on and even hug each other.

However, if you're meeting others who have not been vaccinated, it's best to keep your masks on and take all the other precautions.

3# No traveling yet

The vaccination process has been slow to start and is only expected to speed up in Malaysia after June.

Many other countries are also a long way from achieving herd immunity, with some poorer countries facing even more issues with the process.

Keeping this in mind, it's important for us to remember that travelling, especially international travels, aren't going to be safe for even those vaccinated till next year, at least.

Normal life is a long way away

Despite vaccines, we have to remember that things are not going back to normal.

A lot is still not known and experts are expecting there to be small outbreaks even after herd immunity is achieved.

Even diseases like polio, which the world has been working on to eradicate since 1988, is still around in some parts of the world.

In fact, Malaysia had small outbreaks in recent times, about 29 years after the last case in 1992, despite the country being declared polio-free in 2000.

It's dangerous for us to go back to take things for granted and living pre-COVID lives even after being vaccinated.