PETALING JAYA: A total of 2.73 million people in Malaysia or 8.35% of the country’s population have got their Covid-19 vaccine booster jabs, less than two months since its rollout.
Malaysia began administering booster jabs on Oct 13, with 2,728,294 doses given as at Dec 2.
All Malaysian residents aged 18 and above who have completed their primary vaccine shots are eligible to receive a booster dose to increase their immunity against the virus.
The Health Ministry announced that the vaccines that will be used for the booster doses are those from Pfizer-BioNTech, AstraZeneca and Sinovac.
Following are some key facts about the progress of Malaysia’s booster dose rollout:
The Health Ministry has recommended that all vaccine recipients, besides those on AstraZeneca, receive a Pfizer booster dose or the AstraZeneca vaccine for individuals aged 50 and above.
AstraZeneca vaccine recipients are recommended to receive the same vaccine for their booster dose although the Pfizer vaccine can also be used.
“For individuals who cannot take Pfizer or AstraZeneca vaccines as a booster, the Sinovac vaccine can be administered – nonetheless, they have to inform the vaccination centre (PPV) to receive the vaccine,” Health Ministry Khairy Jamaluddin said last week.
The government has yet to decide on whether to make Covid-19 booster shots a condition for individuals to be considered fully vaccinated, as evaluations are still underway.
Private medical facilities or off-site private health facilities are administering the vaccines to eligible recipients, along with selected health clinics, government hospitals as well as outreach centres.
The list of public and private health facilities involved in administering booster dose can be obtained via the Health Ministry website at covid19.moh.gov.my/vaksin-covid-19 or Protect Health website at protecthealth.com.my.
Here’s where Malaysia stands compared to other countries which are also administering booster jabs: