Earlier jabs for Phase Three

PETALING JAYA: The second phase of the national immunisation programme begins on April 19 and it will involve the elderly, disabled and those with comorbidities. Of the targeted nine million people in Phase Two, two million had registered.

As such, some who are in Phase Three can be bumped up and receive their vaccinations earlier, says Khairy Jamaluddin.

This will include economic frontliners too when doses and supplies are sufficient.

However, the Science, Technology and Innovation Minister assured those in Phase Two that they would be given priority once they had registered.

“When we decided to bring forward Phase Three, it doesn’t mean that we have given up on those who don’t want to register under Phase Two, ” he said.

“If they are late in registering, there is an algorithm in place that will push them – those who are senior citizens and those with comorbidities – to the top of the queue. But, they must register with the MySejahtera system.”

Efforts to encourage more people from Phase Two to register will include door-to-door communication led by the National Disaster Management Agency (Nadma) as well as utilising healthcare workers from both government and private hospitals.

“When they meet their patients for scheduled check-ups, especially those with chronic diseases, the doctors will be recommending to their patients to register for the vaccine. We are utilising every single channel possible to increase communication strategies.

“Those eligible will receive a notification for the date of their vaccination two weeks prior to their appointments via the MySejahtera mobile application, phone call or SMS starting April 5, ” he said at a press conference in Putrajaya.

For the larger scale vaccine distribution, Khairy said the Covid-19 Immunisation Task Force had identified centres such as stadiums and their grounds. Conference halls will also be utilised.

“We will announce the distribution centres later, ” he said.

As at March 28, a total of 7,235,436 individuals had registered for the vaccine, which is about 30% of those targeted in the country’s national immunisation programme involving adults above age 18.

A total of 580,765 vaccine doses have been distributed. A total of 451,655 individuals have received their first vaccine dose while 129,110 have taken their second dose.

Selangor has the highest number of doses administered in the country at 75,317, followed by Perak (59,305), Sarawak (57,034), Sabah (52,223) and Kuala Lumpur (50,512).