Govt may give single-dose Covid-19 vaccines to those in rural areas

BAGAN SERAI (Bernama): The government is considering single-shot Covid-19 vaccines for those living in rural and interior areas, says Deputy Health Minister Datuk Dr Noor Azmi Ghazali.

He said this was after taking into account several factors including logistics and the location of rural communities.

"Those residing in interior areas may find it difficult to come again (to get a second vaccine shot). The government is likely to use the single-shot vaccine like CanSino (from China), but so far, we have not received it yet," he said.

He said this after officiating the 21st Annual General Meeting of the Bagan Serai Branch of the Malaysian Armed Forces (ATM) Veteran Association at Dewan Komuniti Bagan Serai, here Saturday (March 27).

Malaysia has so far gained access to Covid-19 vaccine supplies through the Covax facility, and initial purchases from five Covid-19 vaccine manufacturers which include two-dose vaccines from Pfizer-BioNTech, AstraZeneca, Sinovac Life Sciences Co Ltd (Sinovac) and CanSinoBIO, and single-dose vaccine Sputnik V, from Russia.

Communications and Multimedia Minister Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah was previously reported to have said that all parties including public and private agencies need to come together to make a success of the phase two Covid-19 vaccination programme, which has seen a low sign-up rate especially in the rural areas. – Bernama