Phase 2 of COVID-19 vaccination to commence April 19 - Khairy

KUALA LUMPUR: The phase two of the national vaccination exercise which prioritises the elderly, those with morbidity problems and persons with disabilities will commence on April 19, said Coordinating Minister of the COVID-19 National Immunisation Programme, Khairy Jamaluddin.

He said recipients would be notified on vaccination appointment from April 5, two weeks prior to the appointment date, through the MySejahtera application, phone calls and short messaging system (SMS).

As at yesterday (March 28) about two million individuals in the second phase had registered through MySejahtera, out of a target of nine million people, he said.

“While waiting for the registration from the second phase groups and when the supply of vaccines is sufficient, those who have registered under the third phase will be given priority to receive the vaccine.

“If the registration for the second phase is slow, we will not wait. The vaccination process for the third phase will be simplified,” he said at a press conference on the development of the COVID-19 immunisation programme here, today.

The third phase involves adults aged 18 and above and is scheduled to take place this May.

He said the decision to bring forward the third phase does not mean that the government has given up on those who have yet to register for the second phase.

“If those in phase two are late to register for the vaccination, there is an algorithm in MySejahtera to push them up to the top of the queue to receive the vaccine,” said Khairy, who is also Science, Technology and Innovation Minister.

Commenting on Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin's statement that the government was considering setting a deadline for registration for the COVID-19 vaccine, he said that the proposal was still under discussion.

“If we find that the proposal can have a positive impact on the number of registrations, then an announcement on the date will be made later,” he said.

Thus far, he said a total of 7,235,436 individuals had registered on the MySejahtera application, while 580,765 individuals had been vaccinated under the immunisation exercise.

The top five states for vaccination were Selangor at 75,317 doses, followed by Perak with 59,305 doses, Sarawak (57,034), Sabah (52,223) and the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur (50,512), he said.

Khairy said the COVID-19 Immunisation Task Force (CITF) had identified large-scale vaccination centres to be opened in stadium areas, stadium grounds and large conference halls.

"They will be set up, especially in big cities, because if we rely on the facilities of the Ministry of Health alone, it is not enough,” he said, citing as an example the Sunway Pyramid Convention Centre, which will be used as a vaccination centre.

Meanwhile, Khairy said AstraZeneca would send their vaccine delivery schedules this week.

-- BERNAMA