More mega PPV will be opened for COVID-19 vaccination - Khairy

National COVID-19 Immunisation Programme Coordinating Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said the first mega PPV at the World Trade Center (WTC) Kuala Lumpur opened today for administering the AstraZeneca vaccine is capable of accommodating 2,468 appointments in a day.

""We have plans to open more mega PPVs when more vaccine doses come," he told a press conference after checking on the first day of AstraZeneca vaccine administration at the World Trade Centre (WTC) PPV here today.

The WTC PPV is one of four to provide AstraZeneca vaccine injections to Malaysians and foreigners living in the country, starting today.

The other three are at Universiti Malaya, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia and the Ideal Convention Centre (IDCC) in Shah Alam.

Meanwhile, Khairy, who is also Science, Technology and Innovation Minister, said the priority to expand PPV coverage for AstraZeneca vaccine injection in red zone states was also under discussion as another 1.1 million doses of the vaccine would arrive in Malaysia around May.

The opening of these PPV only takes a short time and will go hand in hand with the supply of vaccines, he said.

Khairy also said that for the first time, the four PPV for dispensing the AstraZeneca vaccine used the services of private medical practitioners registered with Protect Health Corp Sdn Bhd to provide vaccine injections.

Prior to this, all 286,000 doses of AstraZeneca offered under the first phase were fully booked within three hours after registration opened on Sunday, subject to certain conditions.

Among them, those opting in for the AstraZeneca vaccine must be 18 years old and above, residents in Selangor and Kuala Lumpur apart having registered as vaccine recipients under the National COVID-19 Immunisation Programme.

Before this, the AsraZeneca vaccine had raised public concerns following reports of incidents of blood clots or thrombosis among recipients.