After 90% jabbed, Malaysia lifts curbs

PM Yaakob says fully vaccinated can travel overseas without permission

Malaysia yesterday lifted interstate and international travel restrictions for residents fully vaccinated against Covid-19, as the country achieved its target of inoculating 90 per cent of its adult population.

Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob said the government has agreed to allow fully vaccinated Malaysians to travel overseas without applying for permission. The new rules take effect today.

The government is preparing to shift into an endemic Covid-19 phase where it will not impose wide lockdowns again if cases rise, Ismail Sabri told a news conference.

“We have to train ourselves to live with Covid, because Covidmay not be eliminated fully,” he said.

Nearly 65 per cent of the country’s 32 million population, including those aged 12 to 17, were fully vaccinated as of Saturday.

The Southeast Asian nation has recorded 2.3 million coronavirus infections and 27,265 deaths from Covid-19.

Mandatory quarantine

Overseas travel had only been allowed for those who got special permission by applying through an official system. While this requirement is being dropped, returning travellers will still need to undergo quarantine.

Malaysia largely avoided a first wave of the virus at the start of the pandemic last year after imposing restrictions and closing its borders.

It was hit hard this year by the Delta variant, and was logging over 20,000 cases a day and hundreds of deaths in August. But after one of Southeast Asia’s fastest vaccine roll-outs, infection rates have slowed.