KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysia is set to take delivery today of the much-awaited vaccine to boost its fight against Covid-19, which has claimed more than 1,000 lives in the country over the past year.
This historic moment will go down about 10am, with the arrival of the first batch of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine on Malaysia Airlines Flight MH604, an Airbus 330-300 aircraft operated by MAB Kargo Sdn Bhd (MASKargo) at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) in Sepang.
The arrival of the passenger-to-cargo (P2C) flight, carrying 312,390 doses of the vaccine, will be welcomed by Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Adham Baba; Coordinating Minister for the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme Khairy Jamaluddin; Transport Minister Datuk Seri Wee Ka Siong; and, Health Director-General Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah.
The Meteorological Department (MetMalaysia), on its website, stated the weather in Sepang and Putrajaya for today will be good, with temperatures of between 23 and 33°C.
The arrival of the vaccine will kick-start the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme, the largest vaccination programme ever in the country.
As one of the earliest countries in Southeast Asia to use the vaccine, Malaysia, with a population of about 32 million people, is hopeful that the vaccination programme will restore the situation in the country back to normal.
The vaccine has been certified effective and is approved by the National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency (NPRA) of the Health Ministry.
The immunisation programme is divided into three phases, with the first to start from February 26 to April for front-line personnel.
The Health Ministry has prepared 600 vaccination stations nationwide that include health clinics as well as government and private hospitals, with each station to have seven vaccinators.
The second phase is from April to August for senior citizens aged 60 and above and the vulnerable groups.
The third phase is from May to February next year for those aged 18 and above.
Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin is expected to receive the vaccine on the first day of implementation of the programme.
On January 11, the government, through the Health Ministry and Pfizer (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, signed an agreement for the delivery of the first phase of the Pfizer-BioNTech BNT1262b vaccine for the country.
The agreement with Pfizer (Malaysia) involves the procurement of 12,799,800 doses to be supplied beginning end of February for 20% of the Malaysian population, with each person getting two doses. – Bernama, February 21, 2021
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