PUTRAJAYA (Bernama): Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin took his first vaccine jab on Wednesday (Feb 24) to kick-start a nationwide exercise, which aims to provide Covid-19 immunisation for free to the people in Malaysia, locals and foreigners alike.
The Prime Minister received the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine shot at the District Health Centre in Precinct 11 here, which is among the vaccine dispensing centres (PPV) identified for the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme.
Muhyiddin arrived at the clinic at about 2.25pm and had to go through five stations at the PPV to complete the vaccination process.
He was administered the vaccine by Lina Ibrahim, a matron at the Putrajaya District Health Centre.
The first station is for temperature check and screening of symptoms; the second for registration to confirm presence for vaccination; the third for consultation and consent; the fourth for getting the Covid-19 jab and the fifth for observation.
Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah, a familiar face in Malaysia’s year-long battle against the Covid-19 pandemic, was administered the vaccine right after Muhyiddin had received his.
Four Health Ministry personnel – Dr Tan Yee Ling, Sheilla Mellissa Sikin, Khairul Asraf Mohd Yasin and Clement Marai Francis – then received their vaccine shots.
Dr Tan, 30, is a medical officer and Sheilla Mellissa, 31, a nurse at the Putrajaya Health Clinic in Precinct 9, while Khairul Asraf, 44, is an assistant medical officer and Clement, 36, a driver at the Putrajaya Health Office.
After being kept under observation for possible side effects, Muhyddin was then given his appointment for his second dose.
The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine comes in two doses, with the jabs to be given 21 days apart.
Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Khairy Jamaluddin had said that the first batch of 312,390 Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines would be administered to 271,802 frontliners, 57.3% of whom would comprise medical personnel and the rest non-medical frontliners.
He also said the government would continue with its two-dose policy under the immunisation programme although a study showed that a single dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine had up to 85% efficacy against the virus.
The programme will involve the immunisation of 80% of the population under three phases, starting with frontliners from now till April.
The second phase is from April to August involving senior citizens aged 65 and above, high-risk groups as well as persons with disabilities, while the third phase from May to February 2022 are for adults aged 18 and above. – Bernama
Source: The Star Online
