No longer in the mainstream

PUTRAJAYA: The AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine will only be given to people who voluntarily want to receive it, says Khairy Jamaluddin.

The coordinating minister for the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme said although Malaysia’s health experts had concluded that the vaccine is safe and effective, the government remains wary of hesitancy among the public.

“We do not want to waste a vaccine that is proven to be safe and effective. But at the same time, we understand there are certain concerns among the public on the AstraZeneca vaccine, that even science and facts cannot allay.

“So we have agreed on a proactive measure, which is not to use AstraZeneca in the mainstream immunisation programme.

“Instead, we will open special PPVs (vaccination dispensing centres) and the public will be offered the AstraZeneca vaccine to those who voluntarily want it, ” said Khairy at a joint press conference with Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Adham Baba here.

Khairy said the special PPVs to receive the AstraZeneca vaccine would be opened in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor first, where Covid-19 infection figures were high.

“This will also accelerate our Covid-19 immunisation plan, ” he said.

The Science, Technology and Innovation Minister said a booking system would be opened soon and those willing to take the AstraZeneca vaccine could register for it on a first-come, first-served basis.

He added that the vaccine would be opened to the general public, and not just those eligible for the current second phase of the national immunisation programme, which is for the elderly, the disabled and those with comorbidities.

Malaysia currently has a supply of about 268,600 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine – the first batch which arrived from South Korea last week.

The country is scheduled to receive about 6.4 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine for the use of 3.2 million people.

Concerns surrounding AstraZeneca came about after several cases of blood clotting among recipients in some countries.

Khairy said the stance of the Health Ministry is that the benefits of the AstraZeneca vaccine far outweighs the risks.

“The chances of one getting blood clotting from Covid-19 is 16.5%, 0.18% from smoking and 0.05% from birth control pills.

“The risk of getting a blood clot from the AstraZeneca vaccine is four cases in one million, which is 0.0004%.

“The probability of one getting a blood clot from the AstraZeneca vaccine is much lower than getting it from a Covid-19 infection, smoking or taking birth control pills, ” said Khairy.

There would be a pre-vaccination screening where individuals about to receive their jabs would be checked by doctors and given advice about the risk they face.

Recipients must also sign a consent form.

“People are quite comfortable with Pfizer and Sinovac vaccines, compared to AstraZeneca.

“The principle we want to apply here is that Covid-19 vaccination recipients are making informed decisions, ” said Khairy.

Meanwhile, Khairy said journalists in the country would receive their Covid-19 vaccine shots in May.

“Dr Adham and I have received a list of about 1,500 media practitioners from NUJ (National Union of Journalists) as well as journalist associations in Sarawak and Sabah.

“We are delighted to announce that we will begin vaccinating media practitioners in May, ” he said.

Khairy had previously said journalists would be included in the priority list of receiving Covid-19 jabs, but it was subject to supply.