The emergence of the Omicron Covid-19 variant, which has a spike protein that has dramatically mutated from the original virus that vaccines are based on, comes at the worst time.

Dr Lam Sai Kit, a senior fellow with the Academy of Science Malaysia said while there are no reports of the variant in Malaysia yet, the country must be vigilant as its emergence comes at a time where there is a lot of movement of people.

"The appearance of Omicron...