Covid-19: Only 6% of population have registered for vaccination so far, says Ismail Sabri

KUALA LUMPUR: Only 1.9 million Malaysians have registered for the National Covid -19 Immunisation Programme via the MySejahtera app so far, says Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob (pic).

The Senior Minister (Security) said a total of 1,909,585 Malaysians have registered but the number was still small compared to the total Malaysian population of almost 33 million.

"In Malaysia, the government uses two strategies for curbing the spread of Covid-19 – health strategies and safety strategies, including the implementation of the movement control order (MCO) which started in March 2020.

"We managed to flatten the curve of Covid-19 case infection during the first phase of the MCO.

"As a third strategy in November last year, the government purchased vaccines," he told reporters during his daily press conference on Thursday (March 4).

He said the first supply of 312,390 Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine doses arrived on Feb 21, paving the way for the first phase of the National Immunisation Program which started on Feb 26.

"I call on all Malaysians to register for this immunisation program through the application MySejahtera.

"In addition to MySejahtera, registration can also be made online at www.vaksincovid.gov.my or go to the nearest hospital and public health clinics, which will open on March 5 or through the hotline to be announced by the Science, Technology and Innovation Ministry soon.

"Receiving the vaccine is important because other countries could make this a requirement before allowing visits," he said.

Saudi Arabia has said that only those who have been vaccinated would be allowed to perform the haj and umrah this year.