‘AstraZeneca vaccine safe for use’

PETALING JAYA: Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Adham Baba (pic) has allayed fears about the AstraZeneca vaccine, saying it is safe for use in Malaysia.

He said the firm held a meeting with the National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency last week to explain the situation regarding side effects related to cases of blood clot (thromboembolic event).

“A detailed evaluation of all these cases has been made and the company has concluded that there is no solid evidence linking the AstraZeneca vaccine to the thromboembolic event incidents, ” he said in a statement yesterday.

“This conclusion is also supported by the European Medical Agency. Thus, it was concluded that the AstraZeneca vaccine was safe to be used, ” he said.

Dr Adham also said that as of March 23, a total of 481,989 individuals in the country had received at least one dose of the vaccine.

He said 430,368 frontliners had received their first vaccine dose, while 51,621 individuals had already completed the full vaccination regimen.

The three states which have the highest number of people receiving their first dose are Selangor (58,552), Perak (49,451) and Sabah (41,125).

The states with the highest number of people completing two vaccine doses are Sarawak (10,166), Pahang (5,793) and Perak (5,337).