University student receives grand welcome for receiving PPV's 500,000th vaccine jab

JOHOR BARU: A 22-year-old university student received the 500,000th Covid-19 vaccine dose administered at the Persada International Convention Centre vaccination centre (PPV) here.

Nur Syafira Mohd Syaripuddin received a grand welcome from medical staff and volunteers when she arrived at the PPV for her second AstraZeneca dose here on Friday (Oct 1).

The Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) student was also greeted by the PPV's managers Dr Noorfaraheen Md Sani and Dr Adilah Muhammad, floor manager Major Muhammad Lufti Fahmi Rosseli and coordinator Mohd Amin Kadiman.

"I was a little confused and surprised at first but they later explained that I got the 500,000th dose of vaccine administered here.

"I am happy and grateful to be the lucky one. Most importantly, I am relieved to finally be fully vaccinated as I will be less exposed to Covid-19 and could move more freely," she said to The Star.

Nur Syafira added that she received her first dose of AstraZeneca vaccine on August 8 through the walk-in initiative here.

"I was supposed to get my first dose on Oct 10 but after the walk-in inoculation started, I decided to try walking-in at the PPV here.

"The timing for my second dose is also perfect as I am due to start my internship in Putrajaya tomorrow," she said.

She hoped that others who have yet to get their vaccine to do so as soon as possible to be protected from the disease.

Apart from the grand welcome, Nur Syafira was also given a special lane during the inoculation process and was given a goodie bag.

Meanwhile, Mohd Amin said that the initiative was to celebrate the hard work of staff and volunteers who have been working round the clock to vaccinate the public since the PPV open on June 7.

"When we first opened, the target was to vaccinate 133,000 AstraZeneca recipients but we have now administered over half a million doses of various Covid-19 vaccines.

"We wanted to celebrate the hard work of our staff and volunteers as well as to show appreciation to the cooperation we received from the public," he said.