26,472 army personnel to receive Pfizer vaccine starting March 8
PORT DICKSON: A total of 26,472 members of the Malaysian Army (TDM) nationwide will receive Covid-19 Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine in stages in the first phase of the vaccination exercise beginning March 8.
Army Chief General Tan Sri Zamrose Mohd Zain said thus far, 28 army personnel nationwide had received the vaccine on Feb 26.
“Next Monday the vaccination exercise will be carried out comprehensively involving frontliners including those working in formations, red zones and controlling country’s borders,” he told reporters at the Basic Army Training Centre (Pusasda) parade ground here.
Zamrose, who received the vaccine on Friday, said he was in good health and able to do his job well.
The National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme began on Feb 24 with Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin being the first individual to receive the vaccine, followed by Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah and four frontliners.
Earlier, Zamrose in his speech in conjunction with the Malaysian Army 88th anniversary celebration yesterday said the army was always committed in helping the government and the people not only during conflicts but also when facing natural or health disasters.
“This could be seen through the implementation of ‘Op Penawar’ and ‘Op Benteng’ where the involvement of the army in these two operations to curb the spread of Covid-19 pandemic has shown significant success,” he said.
He said TDM was also entrusted by the government to coordinate the implementation of the National Covid-19 Immunisation programme nationwide.
“The Army deputy chief has been appointed as the joint project director in the project management team for the Covid-19 Immunisation Task Force. I would like to thank the government for the trust in TDM in implementing such a high impact programme,” he said. - Bernama