Malaysia has officially started its national COVID-19 immunisation programme with its first batch of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccines. The launch took place at the District Health office in Putrajaya this afternoon and Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin was the first to receive the jab.
A total of 6 individuals have received their first dose and it marks the beginning of Phase 1 which will cover a total of 500,000 frontliners and essential workers from today until April 2021. Apart from the Prime Minister, Health Director-General Dr Noor Hisham has also received the jab as well.
The other 4 recipients include Clement A/L Marai Francis (Driver, Putrajaya Health office), Khairul Asraf Mohd Yasin (Assistant medical officer, Putrajaya Health office), Dr Tan Yee Ling (Medical officer, Precinct 9 Health Clinic) and Sheilla Mellisa Sikin (Nurse, Precinct 9 Health Clinic). The Precinct 11 District Health Office in Putrajaya is one of the designated 532 vaccination centres in the country.
After receiving the vaccinations, the 6 individuals are placed in an observation room for 15-30 minutes to monitor any potential side effects. After that, the individuals will be scheduled to receive their second dose within 21 days.
Under Phase 1 of the immunisation plan, Malaysia aims to vaccinate individuals from the healthcare, police, armed forces, fire and rescue services, immigration and national welfare department. Phase 2 will begin in April and it will cover the remaining healthcare and essential workers, senior citizens, people with chronic diseases and people with disabilities. The final phase is set to begin in May and it will cover the remaining adult population including the migrant community.
It is possible for Malaysia to complete the immunisation programme by the end of this year provided that the vaccine supply can arrive according to schedule and if we can vaccinate a peak of 150-160K people per day. Registration for the COVID-19 vaccine is now available through the MySejahtera app.
Online registration via the VaksinCovid.gov.my website and hotline will be available from 5th March 2021.
