Khairy: Individuals who can’t take mRNA COVID-19 vaccines may be offered Sinovac or AstraZeneca for booster shot

Health Ministry Khairy Jamaluddin has tweeted a thread to provide clarity on the ongoing COVID-19 booster vaccination in Malaysia. At the moment, Malaysia is offering Pfizer booster shots for frontliners and high-risk groups who have been fully vaccinated with Pfizer and Sinovac vaccines.

At the moment, Pfizer recipients are recommended to get a homologous (same vaccine type) booster using Pfizer at least 6 months after receiving the second dose. Meanwhile, Sinovac recipients are recommended to get a heterologous (mix and match) booster with Pfizer at least 3 months after receiving the second dose.

Khairy has also given his assurance on the heterologous booster. As announced last week, the decision to offer Pfizer for heterologous boosting was based on the recommendation by the Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE) on Immunisation by the WHO. He tweeted that he was fully vaccinated with the Sinovac vaccine and had received his Pfizer booster shot before heading to Japan for the WHO meeting.

The minister also shared on Twitter, 102-year-old Madam Neoh Meng Hua who was fully vaccinated with Sinovac has received her Pfizer booster shot at KPJ Batu Pahat.

Booster shot for AstraZeneca recipients to be announced soon

He added that the Health Ministry will be making more announcements on the booster programme which also includes boosters for individuals who have been fully vaccinated with the AstraZeneca vaccine. There will also be an announcement about providing other alternative booster shots, for example, individuals with allergies or who can’t take mRNA vaccines (such as Pfizer) may be offered Sinovac or AstraZeneca.

He reminded everyone that there’s no need to register for the booster shot and you will be notified automatically. Your eligibility will be based on the recommended time interval and as announced earlier, you will be alerted about the appointment via MySejahtera or SMS. The booster vaccination will be conducted at a private GP, government clinic or hospital.

Fully Vaccination status remains for individuals without booster

Addressing concerns about the vaccination status, Khairy has said that individuals will remain “fully vaccinated” as long as they’ve completed their primary series. At the moment, it isn’t necessary to get a booster shot in order to be considered fully vaccinated but it is still recommended to take it when it is offered to you.

The booster vaccine shot is offered for free and it is given voluntarily.

To recap, an individual with a two-dose vaccine (Pfizer, Sinovac and AstraZeneca) is considered fully vaccinated 14 days after receiving the second dose. Meanwhile, individuals with a single-shot vaccine (CanSino and Johnson & Johnson) are counted as fully vaccinated 28 days after injection.

As Malaysia reopens more economic and social sectors including interstate travel, proof of full vaccination is required. If you are still having issues with the digital vaccine certificate, the MySejahtera team has provided several steps to solve it.

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