RM70mil not for vaccine programme website alone, says Khairy

PETALING JAYA: The website for the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme does not cost RM70mil – the amount also includes other components such as the MySejahtera app and many others, says Khairy Jamaluddin.

There had been recent criticism about the website on social media after many faced difficulties registering for the opt-in AstraZeneca vaccine, with some questioning why this was the case assuming the website cost RM70mil to set up.

The National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme coordinating minister said RM70mil was the ceiling allocation for the entire system.

This included the website, the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme monitoring system, the daily reporting system dashboard, the integration system to connect MySejahtera with the Health Ministry's database, genomic surveillance system, system immunisation surveillance, integration of the digital passport in MySejahtera, vaccine logistics system, call centre and the short messaging service (SMS) system.

"The RM70mil is not just for the website... and even that is the ceiling. It doesn't mean that is the actual allocation which will be spent by the government," he said.

He added that as the biggest-ever immunisation programme by the government covering a population of 26 million people, it would need an allocation to run the programme well.

"I hope this explanation will enlighten the people on the latest situation of the vaccine programme. I apologise for the issues faced and thank everyone for who have registered and tried to register," he said.