80,000-plus have got their Covid-19 jabs already

PETALING JAYA: More than 80,000 people have received their first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine since the start of the country’s immunisation programme on Feb 24.

According to the Special Committee on Ensuring Access to Covid-19 Vaccine Supply (JKJAV), 80,336 people have received their first dose as at Wednesday.

Sarawak leads with 13,691 shots administered, followed by Kuala Lumpur (8,505), Perak (7,757), Kelantan (7,725), and Pahang (7,415).

This is followed by Johor (6,454), Terengganu (4,566), Kedah (4,388), Selangor (4,276) and Negri Sembilan (3,101).

In Penang, 2,914 people have received their first vaccine dose, followed by Melaka (2,752), Sabah (1,898), Labuan (1,789), Perlis (1,598) and Putrajaya (1,507).

Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah tweeted that Malaysia’s vaccination implementation was showing good progress.

He said the country managed to administer some 53,000 vaccine shots as at March 2 under the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme that began late last month.

This was faster than some countries such as Australia, with about 33,000 doses administered in a vaccination programme that started on Feb 22, two days earlier than Malaysia.

“Malaysia is doing very well,” Dr Noor Hisham said.

Twitter user Ghows Azzam (@ Ghows), who is the Science Adviser to the Science, Technology and Innovation Minister, yesterday posted that the vaccination rate was “ramping up nicely”.

In his post, Ghows provided figures that showed a steady increase in the number of doses administered from 32,277 on March 1, to 53,287 the following day.

“With more vaccines coming, it will be faster,” he wrote.

Frontliners are currently being vaccinated under the vaccination programme’s first phase that will end next month.

The second phase from April to August this year will involve highrisk groups and those aged 60 and above.

The rest of the Malaysian population aged 18 and above will be vaccinated under the third phase, which is from May to February next year.

— Bernama Feeling safer: Prisons Department personnel Farid Zainatulasraf Zainal Abidin (right) and Wan Mohd Fakhri Wan Ibrahim showing their Covid-19 vaccination cards after they received their shot under the National Immunisation Programme at a Klinik Kesihatan in George Town.