Malaysia’s Health Minister Dr Adham Baba has shared that a total of 25,770 adverse effects after vaccination have been reported in Malaysia as of 31st March 2021. The majority, which is 99.5% of those who are having side effects are reported to have mild symptoms and there are a few that require further observation.
The Minister said the mild side effects reported include pain at the injection site, fever, headache, fatigue, nausea and joint pain. The remaining 0.5% or fewer than 130 individuals have experienced more serious side effects and this include swelling, difficulty in breathing and chest discomfort.
He added these cases were warded for further observation and have been discharged. At the moment, there are no deaths in Malaysia that are linked to the vaccine.
According to the COVID-19 Immunisation Task Force, a total of 482,808 individuals have received at least 1 dose as of 31st March 2021. That means out of those who were vaccinated until the end of March, 5.34% have experienced some form of adverse effect and only 0.0267% were severe.
As announced last month, the government has introduced a special fund to cover adverse effects of the COVID-19 vaccine and it’s managed by the National Disaster Management Agency. A compensation of RM50,000 will be provided if the adverse effects are serious and requires prolonged hospitalisation. Meanwhile, if there are any deaths or permanent disabilities due to the vaccine, a compensation of RM500,000 will be provided.
At the moment, the COVID-19 immunisation program is in Phase 1 which covers frontliners. The target for Phase 1 has been increased from 500,175 to 647,398 individuals. Meanwhile, Phase 2 which covers senior citizens, people with chronic diseases and people with disabilities will now start earlier from 17th April instead of 19th April. Those who have registered and are eligible, will be notified about their appointment two weeks ahead of the scheduled date.
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