PM: Vaccination vital for herd immunity

KUALA LUMPUR: Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin has voiced his hopes that those eligible for the Covid-19 vaccination will register for it when registration opens soon.

This will enable them to get their shots as scheduled.

“This vaccination (exercise) is very important for all of us to achieve herd immunity by ensuring that at least 80% of Malaysia’s adult population receives the vaccine. This can directly prevent Covid-19 transmissions from getting worse, ” he said.

In a Facebook post yesterday, the Prime Minister also expressed his gratitude over the safe arrival of the first batch of Pfizer-BioNTech’s Covid-19 vaccine, which he described as key to achieving herd immunity to contain the Covid-19 pandemic.

He said Malaysia would kick off the first of the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme’s three phases on Wednesday with the first rollout taking place from February to April this year involving 500,000 frontliners.

The second phase will be from April to August involving senior citizens aged 65 and above, high-risk groups as well as persons with disabilities, all involving some 9.4 million people, while the third phase from May to February next year will cover both Malaysians and non-citizens aged 18 and above, targeting more than 13.7 million people.

“Those classified under Phases 2 and 3, I hope you will be patient and continue to support the government’s efforts in implementing the immunisation programme while the first phase takes place, ” he said in the Facebook post.

He also congratulated the Covid-19 Vaccine Supply Access Guarantee Special Committee and all parties and agencies, particularly the Science, Technology and Innovation Ministry, the Health Ministry, the Transport Ministry and Malaysia Airlines Bhd in ensuring the safe arrival of the vaccine in Malaysia.

The first batch of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine supply, involving 312,390 doses, arrived safely at Kuala Lumpur International Airport at 10.07am via MASKargo Flight MH604. — Bernama