AstraZeneca vaccination slots snapped up in 90 minutes

KUALA LUMPUR: One million slots for the latest round of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine opt-in registration for Malaysians aged 60 and below were snapped up in 90 minutes, despite much technical hiccups due to high traffic after its opening at noon today.

According to a tweet by the COVID-19 Immunisation Task Force (CITF) at 1.27 pm, the appointment booking for the vaccine was closed and those eligible would receive an appointment soon.

Earlier, CITF informed that over 300,000 slots for the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine had been booked as of 12.56 pm today, less than an hour after the registration opened to people aged under 60.

MySejahtera in a separate tweet at 12.40 pm stated that some might not be able to access certain functions of the application due to high traffic and advised users to log in again later after the traffic cleared.

The AstraZeneca appointment booking requires applicants to register under the National COVID-19 Immunisation Programme and it can be made through the MySejahtera application, CITF website or via hotline.

Meanwhile, satay operator Hezlinda Md Samsudin, 46, said she was grateful that eventually she could register for the AstraZeneca vaccination for herself and her daughter 55 minutes after the registration opened.

She said she got ready with two laptops and three mobile phones to obtain slots for her husband, herself and their daughter, and had been waiting since 11.45 am but her husband failed to get a slot.

Media practitioner Muhamad Erwin Zaid, 25, considered himself among the lucky ones but felt that the government should improve the registration system which was rather confusing.

Coordinating Minister for the National COVID-19 Immunisation Programme, Khairy Jamaluddin had on Monday told that the registration would open at noon. However, CITF on Twitter today notified a 15-minute delay as the vaccine booking page was still being updated.

A number of people voiced out their frustration on social media due to technical glitches of the booking process today.

The AstraZeneca vaccine booking is open to residents in Johor, Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Sarawak and Selangor aged 18 years and above.

Previously, the AstraZeneca vaccination booking slots were open to people aged 60 and above on Sunday (May 23).

-- BERNAMA