The authorities will deploy a "ring vaccination" strategy alongside the three phases of the national Covid-19 vaccination plan.
Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said that this was a tactical strategy which will see the administering of vaccines in a location or for a cluster where necessary.
"For instance, if there's a prison or detention centre, or a company that suddenly shows a big increase (in Covid-19 cases), our vaccination or immunisation plan allows for tactical deployment to outbreak areas," Khairy told Code Blue in an interview.
The World Health Organisation had previously used a "ring vaccination" strategy to deal with the Ebola virus instead of mass vaccinations due to the limited number of vaccines available.
However, this meant that some of the vaccines which Malaysia expects to receive in 2021 will have to be set aside for ring vaccination. Khairy said he hoped that this will happen in the second quarter of the year.
He said this strategy could be used on migrant workers and detainees who have been identified as at-risk groups because they live in confined spaces.
However, the cabinet, he revealed, has yet to decide who should pay for the vaccination of foreigners. Personally, Khairy is in favour of free vaccinations for all.
"I think the principle is that the more we vaccinate, the better. The tagline is 'lindung diri, lindung semua' (protect one, protect all). Not everyone is safe until everyone is.
"I've been advocating free vaccinations for everyone who's a resident in Malaysia. We'll be making a decision soon," he said.
The first batch of vaccines will arrive in March and will be reserved for around 500,000 people working on the frontlines in the battle against Covid-19.
By May, more vaccines will arrive for the elderly and the frail. Everyone else will have to wait until at least August to access the vaccine.- Mkini
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