Action against anti-vaxxers to be announced by next month - PM Muhyiddin

KUALA TERENGGANU: The government will announce the action that will be taken against anti-vaccine groups either this month or next month, said Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.

He said it was to ensure that the country could achieve herd immunity to curb the spread of COVID-19 transmissions.

"We will study and conduct some research about this (anti-vaccine) group. We need to know the background, whether most of them are so sick that they are afraid to take the vaccine or they don't want to take the vaccine because they don't believe (in it).

"So, when we have analysed... if the percentage is very small, it is not worrying but if it is big, we have to find a way, whether to (make it) mandatory under the existing legal provisions. It will be decided by the government within this month or next month," he said.

He spoke to reporters after visiting the vaccination centre (PPV) at Taman Tamadun Islam here today.

Muhyiddin however said before any action was taken, the government would first look into the factors that caused someone to refuse to register as a vaccine recipient.

He also did not rule out the possibility of making it compulsory for each individual to take the vaccine jabs.

During the visit, the Prime Minister also urged more people to register for the vaccination.

He also said that teenagers aged 16 and 17 will be vaccinated earlier, but it can only be done after all eligible adults have been vaccinated.

Apart from that, he also announced that Terengganu would receive 590,000 additional doses of COVID-19 vaccine this month.

The Taman Tamadun Islam PPV, which started operating on Tuesday, could accommodate up to 4,000 vaccine recipients at a time and it is the third integrated PPV in Terengganu after the Gong Badak Sports Complex and Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin (UniSZA).

-- BERNAMA