Phase 3 of immunisation programme in Klang Valley begins tomorrow

 

The third phase of the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme (NIP) in the Klang Valley will begin tomorrow at the National Stadium vaccination centre (PPV) in Bukit Jalil, said the programme's coordinating minister, Khairy Jamaluddin.

Khairy, who is also the Minister of Science, Technology, and Innovation, said this was because 99 percent of senior citizens in the Klang Valley and 88 percent in Selangor who registered for vaccination have either received their first dose or received their appointment dates.

He said individuals who registered to get vaccinated from Feb 23 would get their appointment dates tomorrow for vaccination at the National Stadium PPV.

"Instead of waiting until we have completed 100 percent of those who registered for vaccination, I decided to start phase three so this phase can be expedited.

"Any state that has achieved 90 percent of the first dose of the vaccine jab or those who registered have received their appointment dates, then we will begin the third phase of the immunisation programme,” he said.

He was speaking at a joint press conference with Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz on the National Recovery Plan.

Khairy explained that senior citizens who register after tomorrow's launch of the third phase in the Klang Valley would still be given priority in the list of vaccine recipients.

In March, Health Minister Dr Adham Baba reportedly said vaccination under phase three involving those aged 18 and above would be from May 2021 to February 2022.

In the meantime, Khairy said Malaysia’s performance in administering vaccine jabs was better compared to several neighbouring countries and not too far behind Japan, which is a developed nation in Asia.

“Actually, the vaccination capacity is not a problem, but (the problem) is the vaccine supply schedule due to vaccine inequality worldwide and the government is doing its best to get the vaccines as quickly as possible.

“We will get a supply of 12.8 million doses of vaccine in July and 14.4 million doses in August, subject to delivery. This is the agreement given by the suppliers and this will enable us to reach the target of having 80 percent of the country’s population vaccinated much earlier than December,” he said.

Khairy also said as of Friday (June 18), Malaysia received four million doses of Pfizer vaccine out of the 44.8 million that was ordered, while 3.7 million doses of the Sinovac vaccine had been received from 12 million ordered.

As for AstraZeneca, he said Malaysia received 828,000 doses of the vaccine from the 7.8 million ordered.

Asked why the government did not expand the use of single-dose vaccines produced by CanSino Biologics Inc as well as Johnson & Johnson, Khairy said the supply of Pfizer, AstraZeneca, and Sinovac was sufficient for the time being.

“The efficacy of Johnson & Johnson and Cansino is more than 65 percent. This we will use for those who are difficult to be contacted, such as in the interiors of Sabah, Sarawak, and the east coast, refugees who are difficult to reach for second appointment dates.

“If both these vaccines are required, we will decide from time to time, subject to the country’s finances,” he said.

In the meantime, Khairy explained that the reduced daily vaccination tally on weekends was due to some PPV taking a day’s break in accordance with the total vaccine supply.

“But they have assured me that when supply increases in July, they are willing to operate seven days a week,” he said.

- Bernama