SHAH ALAM, June 15  — A daily target of 165,000 COVID-19 vaccinations has been set for Selangor by August through the opening of more vaccination centres and the involvement of private clinics and hospitals as well vaccination programmes in the field. 

 National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme coordinating minister Khairy Jamaluddin said Selangor currently administers 43,000 doses a day, and there are plans to increase this to 135,000 daily in July in line with the government’s target to vaccinate 80 per cent of the Selangor populace by September. 

“We have discussed strategies to increase the vaccination rate in Selangor, meaning the gap between vaccines supplied and used will not be too long,” he said after attending the Selangor-level Covid-19 Immunisation Task Force (CITF) meeting with Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Amirudin Shari here today.

Khairy said the vaccination rate for Pfizer and Sinovac in Selangor currently stands at 68 per cent and 61 per cent respectively. 

He said as for senior citizens in Selangor, a total of 504,296 individuals have registered for vaccination so far, with 45 per cent or 225,186 having received at least one dose of the vaccine while a total of 218,363 have received an appointment date until June 27.

“This makes it 88 per cent of senior citizens who have registered have at least received their appointment dates. I expect Phase 2 for senior citizens who have registered to be completed by mid-July in Selangor,” he said.

At the same time, Khairy said it was important for the community to understand that the government has not set aside the implementation of Phase 2, and was still carrying it out despite Phase 4 already having commenced. 

“This is because when the Movement Control Order was implemented there were still certain economic sectors operating and work sites have triggered infection clusters, which is why we are also focusing on Phase 4,” he said.

He said the Texas Instruments plant would be the first plant in Selangor to start Phase 4 of the vaccine programme tomorrow and this would be further expanded to the manufacturing and other construction sectors in the state in July.

“The Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) is also compiling a list of factories that will be involved in this programme,” he said.

On reports that the Japanese government wants to donate the Astrazenaca vaccine to Malaysia, Khairy said the government was still waiting for an official letter from the country, especially on the quantity pledged and other related matters.

As for the US government’s plan to donate vaccines to Asian countries, including Malaysia, he said the Deputy secretary-general of MOSTI would hold a meeting tonight with representatives of the US Department of State to detail out the number of vaccines to be sent.

“This commitment was also conveyed to me by the US Ambassador to Malaysia,” he said.

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