PETALING JAYA,Feb 23: Another batch of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, comprising 182,520 doses, will arrive in Malaysia tomorrow.
Science, technology and innovation minister Khairy Jamaluddin said these will be distributed to states that have not received the vaccine yet.
“Kedah, Melaka, Negeri Sembilan and Perak will receive the vaccines tomorrow. Pahang, Terengganu, Kelantan, Sabah, Sarawak and Labuan will receive theirs on Feb 25,” he said at the national Covid-19 immunisation programme simulation at the health ministry today.
Khairy also announced that the education ministry had identified 55,539 teachers categorised as “high risk” with comorbidities.
“We will make efforts to include them in the first phase of vaccinations, God willing, before schools open,” he said.
Meanwhile, health minister Dr Adham Baba said 532 vaccination centres have been set up so far, and this number will increase for phase 2 and 3 of the immunisation programme.
He said 572,588 frontliners have registered to receive the vaccine as at Feb 21, including 328,588 healthcare workers.
Adham explained that the simulation carried out this morning was for health ministry staff to familiarise themselves with the vaccination procedures, and ensure the smooth implementation of the programme on the field.
“With the success of the simulation today, the ministry is ready to carry out the Covid-19 vaccinations that will begin tomorrow,” he said.
He said each vaccination centre will be split into five stations – for screening, registration, signing of the consent form, vaccination and observation.
Recipients of the vaccine will be asked to stay for 15 to 30 minutes after vaccination.
The first phase of the national immunisation programme has been brought forward from Friday to tomorrow, where Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin and health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah will be the first two to receive the vaccine.
They will receive the jab at Klinik Kesihatan Putrajaya after the weekly Cabinet meeting.
