Pfizer-BioNTech to be the main Covid-19 vaccine in Malaysia
With over 12 million vaccine doses administered, Malaysia is well on its way to getting its citizens protected against Covid-19. Amid the ongoing National Immunisation Programme (NIP), Health Minister Dr Adham Baba has just announced that Pfizer-BioNTech will soon become the main Covid-19 vaccine in Malaysia once the supply of Sinovac finishes.
Malaysia to stop using Sinovac once supply finishes
Image credit: @DrNoorAzmi
Yesterday, 15th July 2021, Reuters reported that Malaysia will stop using the Sinovac Covid-19 vaccine from China once the supply is used up. This is because the country has a sufficient amount of other vaccines to be administered for the NIP.
The publication quoted Health Minister Dr Adham Baba who spoke at a press conference that Pfizer-BioNTech will soon be the main vaccine used in the NIP.
Malaysia has secured about 45 million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech mRNA vaccine previously. This is sufficient to cover about 70% of the population compared to the 16 million Sinovac jabs from China.
“About half of the 16 million have already been distributed, so the rest will be used to cover second doses,” Dr Adham was quoted as saying by Reuters, adding that people who have yet to receive their Covid-19 vaccines will be given Pfizer instead.
It was also reported that the health ministry’s decision to stop administering Sinovac shots “comes amid increasing concern over its efficacy against new and more contagious variants of the coronavirus”.
Klang Valley residents can expect to be fully vaccinated by next month
Image credit: @JKJAVMY
Health Director-General Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah, who was also present at the press conference, said that those living in Klang Valley can expect to get at least one dose of their Covid-19 vaccine jabs by early August.
Bernama quoted Dr Noor Hisham saying that Klang Valley residents can also expect to be fully vaccinated by the end of August.
The report said that as of now, more than 3.1 million residents in Klang Valley had received their first Covid-19 vaccine doses and more than five million doses will be administered soon.
Pfizer-BioNTech to become Malaysia’s main Covid-19 vaccine soon
It’s good to see that the government is constantly looking for ways to speed up the NIP by increasing the number of doses of vaccines given daily.
We hope the decision to make Pfizer-BioNTech the main Covid-19 vaccine in Malaysia will encourage more people to register and get inoculated as soon as possible.
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Cover image adapted from: @KKMPutrajaya and Tim Reckmann