Now Khairy has resigned, are COVID-19 vaccination centres closing?

Vaccine coordination minister Khairy Jamaluddin has announced today that the Malaysian cabinet has tendered their resignation after the Perikatan Nasional administration has lost the majority. There are speculations on the ground that COVID-19 vaccination centres (PPV) would be affected due to the political situation.

We’ve reached out to the Special Committee on ensuring access to COVID-19 vaccine supply (JKJAV) and they have assured us that the National Immunisation Programme is still running and the PPVs are still open. There are rumours that PPVs in the Klang Valley will shut down on the 22nd of August, but that is merely the last day for walk-in vaccination which is open to all residents in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor.

As announced previously, Malaysian citizens can walk in between 2nd to 22nd August, while non-Malaysians can walk-in to get their vaccine between 9th to 22nd August 2021.

Although the Klang Valley has vaccinated over 100% of its registered adult population, there are still over 33% of adults that have yet to receive the second dose. The vaccination centres will continue to remain open to ensure that everyone including non-citizens and migrant communities has completed their vaccination.

There are also reports that some vaccination centres in Penang had to be suspended temporarily today. The suspension was due to a supply delay to some PPVs.

During Khairy’s last update on the vaccination programme, he shared that Malaysia is on track to have at least 40% of the adult population in each state be fully vaccinated and to have a 50% fully vaccination rate on the national level by 31st August. He apologised to anyone who has had a bad experience with the programme and promised that the JKJAV will continue to learn, improve and strive to do better.

Quoting former UK Prime Minister Winston Churchill after the Battle of El Alamein, he said “Now this is not the end, it is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.”

During Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin’s address to the nation this afternoon, he assured Malaysians not to worry as the government has ordered more than enough vaccines for everyone. Over 87 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been procured costing RM4.36 billion. He added if the programme continues according to plan, all adults will be fully vaccinated by end of October 2021.

He hopes that the new government which takes over the administration will take good care of everyone.

As of yesterday, 15th August, Malaysia has administered over 27.8 million doses. More than 17 million people or 52.3% of the total population have received at least one dose. Meanwhile, over 10 million people or 32.9% of the total population have completed their vaccination with two doses.

The states of Sarawak and Labuan have fully vaccinated more than half of their population, while the Klang Valley and Seremban are close to reaching the 50% mark. The states of Kelantan, Johor and Sabah have a lot of catching up to do as less than 20% of their population have received two doses.

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