PUTRAJAYA: Married couples can have their vaccination appointments together to facilitate their journey to the vaccination centre, said National COVID-19 Immunisation Programme Coordinating Minister Khairy Jamaluddin.

He said there had been requests for husbands and wives to be vaccinated together, and this can be done if they contact the Special Committee for Ensuring Access to COVID-19 Vaccine Supply (JKJAV) at 1800-888-828 to make arrangements.

“We have decided to give the appointments together but if couples register separately using their own MySejahtera apps, they might get different appointments,” he told a joint media conference with Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Adham Baba on the immunisation programme here today.

Khairy said senior citizens or dependants can also ask for a similar arrangement.

He also said JKJAV decided to vaccinate national athletes going for international competitions because they are categorised as “national significance”, as practised by New Zealand for its Olympics-bound athletes.

The athletes involved included the football squad going to the United Arab Emirates for the 2022 World Cup/2023 Asian Cup qualifying campaign in June, he said.

Khairy, who is also Science, Technology and Innovation Minister, said foreigners including holders of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) card are expected to get their vaccine jabs in the third phase of the national immunisation programme which begins in June.

For this, Khairy said he had met Home Minister Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainuddin last week and would be seeking the cooperation of the United Nations.

He said the onus is on employers to register foreign workers with expired documents, and valid or invalid documents for vaccination.

The government had decided to extend free COVID-19 vaccination to foreigners residing in the country, for the sake of the safety of everyone.

Asked if media personnel would be given priority in vaccination under phase three, Khairy said it would be done subject to adequate vaccine supply.

“Currently, under phase two we prioritise senior citizens, persons with disabilities and those with chronic diseases. The April appointments for this group are already full. What I can say is, by June and beyond, we will work to process the vaccination for media personnel,” he said.

— BERNAMA