PETALING JAYA: Malaysia has received the first shipment of 624,000 Pfizer-BioNTech Comirnaty 10mcg Concentrate for Dispersion vaccine doses that will be used for the vaccination of children aged five to 12 in February, says the Health Ministry.
It said a Raya Air TH383 aircraft carrying the vaccines landed at 7.15am on Friday (Jan 28) morning at Subang airport.
It added that the vaccine’s journey from the Pfizer factory in Belgium was managed by the pharmaceutical company itself and logistics company DHL.
"The vaccine came from Puurs, Belgium and transited at the Leipzig Halle Airport in Germany before continuing its journey to Singapore for distribution to Malaysia.
"Today, about 72 vaccine boxes will be sent to 52 Ultra Low Freezer Vaccine (ULTF) storage centres in 12 states and territories including Pahang, Melaka, Johor, Negri Sembilan, Sabah, Sarawak, Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya, Labuan, Selangor, Kelantan and Terengganu.
"For states in the north such as Kedah, Perlis, and Perak, it will be sent directly by air through the Penang International Airport," the ministry said in a statement on Facebook on Friday.
It said the truck carrying the vaccines would be escorted by the Royal Malaysia Police to the designated vaccine storage centres as a safety measure.
The ministry estimates that there are four million children aged five to 12 who would be eligible to receive the vaccine.
"For starters, (vaccination) for children will be carried out in the Klang Valley through hospitals for children who have medical problems.
"For children without any medical problems, the vaccine will be given at integrated vaccination centres," it said.
It noted that parents could make an appointment for their children through the MySejahtera application.
As of Friday, the ministry said 484,639 children from the age of five to 12 had been registered for vaccination on MySejahtera.
"Through this method, parents or their guardians can choose the location as well as the time to bring their children for vaccination," it said, adding that the implementation of the appointment system would be expanded to other states in the near future.
Malaysia telah menerima bekalan pertama vaksin Pfizer kanak-kanak yang akan digunakan bagi pemberian vaksin COVID-19 kepada kanak-kanak berumur 5 hingga bawah 12 tahun.#PICKids akan bermula pada bulan hadapan iaitu, 3 Februari 2022. pic.twitter.com/SFTUJCxaxE
— KKMalaysia
