The Ministry of Health has revealed that a total of 53,287 frontliners in Malaysia have received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. The national COVID-19 immunisation program has started on 24th February 2021 after the arrival of the Pfizer vaccine from Belgium.
As of yesterday, (2nd March 2021), Sarawak has inoculated the most with 9,737 people, followed by Perak with 5,714 people, Pahang with 5,696 people, Kuala Lumpur with 5,601 people and Kelantan with 4,593 people. At the current rate, we are vaccinating at an average of 7,612 people per day since last Wednesday.
Compared to other countries that have started before us, Malaysia is doing pretty well. According to Ghows Azzam, Science Advisor to the Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, we have vaccinated more people than Australia and Japan which started their vaccination program a few days earlier before Malaysia.
When it comes to registration, MySejahtera is the only and easiest way to sign up and it has received a total of 1,741,364 registrations as of 8am this morning. The uptake is overwhelmingly low and Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, Khairy Jamaluddin has vowed to increase awareness of the program.
For those who don’t have MySejahtera, you can register via vaksincovid.gov.my or by calling in a hotline number which will be available from 5th March 2021. The government will also allow walk-in registration through hospitals and clinics, and they will also embark on a outreach program to register those who are residing in rural and remote areas.
The COVID-19 vaccination is offered free of charge to everyone including both citizens and non-citizens in Malaysia. Malaysia has procured a portfolio of vaccines from Pfizer, Sinovac, AstraZeneca, Sputnik V and CanSinoBio.
At the moment, the immunisation program is in Phase 1 which aims to cover 500,000 frontliners by April 2021. The next phase which covers the elderly, people with chronic diseases and people with disability will start in April until August 2021. For the remaining adults, Phase 3 will begin in May 2021 until February 2022.
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