PUTRAJAYA – Senior citizens will be given the Sinovac vaccine under Phase 2 of the National Covid-19 immunisation Programme starting April 19, said programme Coordinating Minister Khairy Jamaluddin.
He said it was decided by the Special Committee on Covid-19 Vaccine Supply Access Guarantee after taking into consideration the latest data as well as application development in other countries, which showed the vaccine is safe, effective and stable to be given to citizens aged 60 and above.
According to Khairy, who is also science, technology and innovation minister, countries that started dispensing Sinovac vaccine to residents aged 60 years and above are Turkey (11 million senior citizens), Brazil (over seven million recipients), and Chile, (over three million recipients).
In a media conference on the development of the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme with Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Adham Baba here today, Khairy said Brazilian clinical trials and papers under review showed that the Sinovac jab’s secondary efficacy against Covid-19 was 83.7% for moderate cases and 100% for severe cases.
In this regard, Khairy said the number of people who have registered for the Covid-19 vaccine now stands at about 8.5 million.
The Federal Territories of Putrajaya and Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Penang and Negri Sembilan recorded the highest registration in terms of ratio to the population while registration in Sabah, Kelantan, Pahang, Terengganu and Kedah is still slow, he said.
Khairy said 31,776 appointments have been sent to Phase 2 vaccine recipients via MySejahtera and SMS.
From the total, 13,218 have replied that they are attending, 343 replied they would not be present and 18,215 or 57% have yet to confirm their attendance.
“I am urging those who have received appointment details to reply as it would enable us carry out planning at vaccine centres (PPVs).
“If we do not know the turnout, there may be wastage of vaccine or insufficient vaccine doses at PPVs,” he said.
For those who replied they are not attending, their appointments will be rescheduled and if they are still reluctant to attend, the committee will check on the cause of their hesitation, he said.
Asked on the development to acquire AstraZeneca vaccine, Khairy said the matter would be decided next week after the committee meets and reports from expert groups are received.
According to the report, European Medicines Agency issued a statement that blood clotting is a rare side effect of the AstraZeneca shot. – Bernama, April 12, 2021
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