COVID-19 Vaccine: All PPVs now open for walk-in, 50% of adults in Malaysia boosted

The Ministry of Health has announced that all vaccination centres (PPV) throughout Malaysia are now accepting walk-ins for COVID-19 vaccine boosters. The walk-in vaccination for boosters is applicable to all adults (aged 18 years old and above) starting from 29th January 2022.

Walk-in boosters now available to all eligible adults

Previously offered only to senior citizens, walk-ins are now available for eligible adults at the 4 Mega PPVs in the Klang Valley such as World Trade Centre in Kuala Lumpur, Axiata Arena in Bukit Jalil, Ideal Convention Centre in Shah Alam and Soka Gakkai in Klang. If you prefer to get boosted at a private clinic under ProtectHealth, walk-ins are also offered as well but you must contact them for an appointment.

To avoid disappointment, it is best to contact your preferred clinic as they have a limited daily supply of COVID-19 vaccines. You can find the location and contact details on Protect Health’s website.

50% of adults in Malaysia have been boosted

As of 29th January 2022, Malaysia has administered 11,710,970 booster doses which is equivalent to 50% of adults in the country. Based on data on COVIDNow, 72.3% of adults in the Klang Valley have been boosted while Sarawak has boosted 70.4% of its adult population. Kelantan and Sabah have the lowest booster vaccination rate with just 19.6% and 16.5% of adults boosted respectively.

Booster doses are currently administered to ensure optimum levels of protection against COVID-19 especially with the emergence of the Omicron variant. Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin has warned that the Omicron variant will soon overtake Delta locally and the country may soon face its next wave of infections.

He urged everyone to practice the SOP, such as wearing a face mask and social distancing, getting boosted and supporting PICKids, the vaccination programme for children under 12 which will begin early next month. Malaysia is seeing a rise of new daily infections recording over 5,000 new cases in the past two days. Hospitalisations due to COVID-19 still remain moderate at 27.5% nationwide. There are 127 cases in ICU and 70 requiring ventilators nationwide as of 28th January 2022.

All adults are recommended to get their booster at least 3 months after being fully vaccinated (2 months if fully vaccinated with Johnson and Johnson). At the moment, Pfizer and AstraZeneca are the default recommended booster vaccines for all recipients. Sinovac recipients who have severe allergies or can’t take mRNA vaccines may be offered Sinovac as a booster.

As shared by Dr Kalai Peariasamy, the director at the Institute for Clinical Research (ICR) at Ministry of Health, local data has shown that 3 doses of Pfizer vaccines offer 99% lower risk compared to just two doses of Pfizer. For those who are have received two doses of Sinovac and one Pfizer booster, it has a 94% lower risk. Meanwhile, a person with three doses of Sinovac has high levels of protection with 92% lower risk compared to an individual with just two doses of Pfizer. A person with just two doses of Sinovac has 76% higher risk of infection compared to a person who has received two doses of Pfizer.

[ SOURCE 2 ]