Malaysia to receive another 182,520 doses of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine on Wednesday (Feb 24)

PUTRAJAYA (Bernama): Malaysia will receive its second batch of 182,520 doses of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine on Wednesday (Feb 24) for distribution to states that have yet to receive the vaccine, says Coordinating Minister for National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme Khairy Jamaluddin.

Khairy, who is also Science, Technology and Innovation Minister, said the vaccine, produced in Belgium, was scheduled to arrive via the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) in the morning from Singapore.

"The vaccine will be distributed to states that have yet to receive supply," he said in a press conference after conducting a simulation of the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme here Tuesday (Feb 23).

The vaccine will be distributed to Kedah, Melaka, Negeri Sembilan and Perak On Wednesday (Feb 24), while Pahang, Terengganu, Kelantan, Sabah, Sarawak and the Federal Territory of Labuan will receive the supply on Thursday (Feb 25), he said.

The first batch of 312,390 doses of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine safely arrived in Malaysia through the national entry points at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA), Sepang, Johor and Penang on Feb 21.

The National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme is implemented in three phases starting Feb 24, with Phase 1 from February to April 2021 for the frontliners involving 500,000 people.

The Phase 2, from April to August, will involve senior citizens aged 65 and above, high-risk groups and the disabled involving some 9.4 million people, while Phase 3 from May this year to February 2022 will cover both Malaysians and non-citizens aged 18 and above, targetting more than 13.7 million people

Khairy was previously reported to have said Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin and Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah would be among the first to receive the Covid-19 vaccine on Wednesday, starting the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme two days ahead of schedule instead of Feb 26. – Bernama