Vaccination for more than 400 Parliament staff begins today - Khairy

PUTRAJAYA: The vaccination process for more than 400 Parliament staff began today at several vaccination centres in the federal capital, said Coordinating Minister for the National COVID-19 National Immunisation Programme Khairy Jamaluddin.

He said it was carried out in preparation for the opening of the Dewan Rakyat and Dewan Negara sitting soon.

"We want to ensure that every Parliament staff gets proper protection against the COVID-19 infection," he told a press conference on the development of the National COVID-19 Immunisation Programme with Health Minister Datuk Dr Adham Baba here today.

He said the vaccination also covered cleaning and catering staff at Parliament.

Khairy said all Members of Parliament have also been told that their staff who will accompany them to the Dewan Rakyat and Dewan Negara are also eligible for the vaccination.

In another development, Khairy said Malaysia would receive one million doses of Astrazeneca vaccine from the Japanese government tomorrow and another one million doses of Pfizer vaccine from the United States on Friday.

He expressed Malaysia's appreciation for the vaccine, saying that it symbolised their confidence in the country's fight against COVID-19 and support for the global immunisation programme.

"This vaccine contribution will enable is to intensify PICK and help Malaysia achieve the threshold valueoutlined in the National Recovery Plan (PPN).

"All vaccines obtained will be distributed immediately to all facilities and PPV for PICK ," he added.

He said several mega PPVs will also start operating at higher rate today with the implementation of the second dose injection, among them the KLCC PPV, with its capacity to increase to 8,000 doses daily and the Setia City PPV to 6,000doses per day.

"All the facilities involved are prepared to accommodate higher vaccination rate to ensure smooth operation and avoid congestion," he added.

-- BERNAMA