All 268,800 AstraZeneca vaccination slots taken up in three and a half hours

PETALING JAYA: All AstraZeneca vaccination slots were taken up in about three and a half hours after registration opened on Sunday (May 2) noon.

At around 3.20pm, Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Khairy Jamaluddin tweeted that all 268,800 slots at four vaccination centres in the Klang Valley had been taken up but the public could still put themselves on the waiting list.

He also apologised for the initial glitches the public had to initially endure in the first few minutes after registrations were open.

“All AstraZeneca slots are fully booked. My apologies for the initial glitch and multiple refreshes, ” he said in a tweet.

The rush to register for the vaccine could have overwhelmed the system causing many to experience difficulties in sending their applications through.

In the first few minutes, those registering for the vaccine could not even see the appointment dates and vaccination centre, which Khairy said in an earlier tweet would appear the moment they logged on to the registration site.

However, the process started going smoothly by 12.30pm onwards as many people who successfully registered showed off the congratulatory message notifying that they had managed to book a slot.

Khairy also said Malaysia is expected to get a million more doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine this month via the Covid-19 Vaccines Global Access Facility (Covax) and will expand the opportunity to those living in other states to opt-in for it.

“We will expand the opt-in in other states, except Sarawak, which has declined, and ensure those without Internet access can also sign up, ” he said.

The AstraZeneca vaccine would not be used in the mainstream National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme but given through dedicated vaccination centres (PPV) in Selangor and Kuala Lumpur.

Concerns surrounding AstraZeneca came about after several cases of blood clotting emerged among receivers of the vaccine.

However, Khairy, who is the coordinating minister for the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme, assured the public that the AstraZeneca vaccine has been proven to be safe and effective.

He said the number of incidents (blood clotting) is very rare, with only four cases out of one million people globally.