Govt ramping up vaccination

 

Mega centre: Khairy, Penang chief minister Chow Kon Yeow (left) and state health committee chairman Dr Norlela Ariffin (right) visiting the PPV at Setia SPICE Arena in Penang. — ZHAFARAN NASIB/The Star

GEORGE TOWN: The government is ramping up Covid-19 vaccination this month with up to 150,000 doses to be administered daily and 200,000 daily next month.

Science, Technology and Innovation (Mosti) Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said efforts such as opening up more vaccination centres (PPV), not only on a large scale at private hospitals but private clinics too, are under way.

“In terms of daily doses, we administered 105,655 doses yesterday. I’ve instructed that in June, we will be administering 150,000 doses daily and up to 200,000 in July.

“I don’t want the vaccines to be in storage for too long.

“We hope to rope in 1,000 general practitioners to be in operation by the end of June. So far, 600 of them are almost ready and will soon receive approvals to start, ” he said at a press conference at Setia SPICE Arena in Bayan Lepas, which has been turned into a PPV.

The ramp-up in the national vaccination rate is a marked increase as late last month, Khairy announced that the country’s vaccination rate had reached 100,000.

Khairy, who is also National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme coordinating minister, said that after 100 days since the programme started on Feb 24, Malaysia has surpassed other neighbouring countries in terms of population percentage vaccinated.

“A total of 3.21 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines have been administered, including first and second doses.

“In terms of percentage of population who have received at least their first dose, we have surpassed Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines and Vietnam.

“Although this is not a race, it is good for us to always benchmark with other countries, ” he said.

Meanwhile, Khairy said state governments may go ahead and buy Covid-19 vaccines from pharmaceutical companies that are not supplying to the Federal Government.

He said the government is not restricting any state’s intentions to procure its own vaccines and may even facilitate the effort.

“If states want to buy from other suppliers, go ahead – there is no restriction or monopoly.

“The Federal Government is only purchasing Pfizer, Sinovac and AstraZeneca but not other brands such as Moderna and Sinopharm, which have received approval from the World Health Organisation.

“If states want to take in those vaccines, sure, as long as they are registered with the National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency.

“If they want to negotiate with the pharmaceutical companies, go ahead; we can facilitate it, ” said Khairy.

He also said three Covid-19 PPVs at private hospitals are ready to start on June 7, adding that a private clinic has since started while nine others will start from June 8.

The PPV at SPICE Arena is the first mass vaccination centre in Penang and it is scheduled to start operations on June 7 to dispense AstraZeneca vaccines.

Khairy said the centre, equipped with various facilities for the elderly and disabled, would be capable of administering up to 3,000 doses daily.

“A total of 133,000 doses have been prepared for Penang and the first three days of vaccination drive will see 1,000 doses administered daily.

“It will be increased to 3,000 doses daily on weekdays and 2,000 doses daily on weekends, ” he said. - Star