KUALA LUMPUR: All adults in Malaysia are expected to be fully vaccinated by October under a new immunisation target set by the government to stem the recent surge in COVID-19 cases, said Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.

He said the fast-track approach in the National COVID-19 Immunisation Programme (PICK) includes boosting the capacity for vaccination rate to 500,000 doses per day, to tackle the emergence of new variants of the virus which are more vicious.

"Vaccination is the main key to our success in combating COVID-19. Under the original schedule, 80 per cent of the residents in Malaysia will get the full doses of the vaccine by the first quarter of 2022.

"Then the target date was subsequently brought forward to December 2021. Now, the vaccination programme target (date) has been further speeded up," he said in a statement posted on his Facebook today.

He said the government is also aiming for 100 per cent of the adult population in Selangor and Kuala Lumpur to be given at least one dose of the vaccine by Aug 1 under the Operation Surge Capacity, while Sarawak is expected to hit this target by the end of August.

"Almost all states will achieve a vaccination rate of more than 50 per cent by the end of August. All states will record a vaccination rate exceeding 70 per cent in September," he said.

Muhyiddin said the government had booked more than 76.1 million doses of vaccines, 70 per cent of which are Pfizer and the rest comprising Sinovac, AstraZeneca and CanSino.

He said Malaysia had received 20 million doses out of the amount booked.

"Delivery of the vaccines is expected to total 30 million doses by the end of this month, 40 million doses in August, 53 million doses in September and 58 million doses in October. The balance will be received between November and January 2022," he added.

-- BERNAMA