AstraZeneca jab recipients may apply for shorter dosing intervals

KUALA LUMPUR – The government is open to reviewing a shorter dosing interval for those who have registered for the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine.

In a tweet today, Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said the Special Committee on Covid-19 Vaccine Supply Access Guarantee will review applications on a case-by-case basis, such as students going abroad.

“The AstraZeneca jab dosing interval is set at 12 weeks. This is in line with WHO (World Health Organisation) recommendations and is (the) current practice in the UK.”

Khairy said applications can be made via the vaksincovid.gov.my website soon.

His office has advised those who have confirmed their AstraZeneca vaccination booking to recheck their appointment time.

Malaysiakini reported that there were complaints yesterday of appointments being retimed. 

Khairy’s office told the news portal that the retiming affects a small section of prospective recipients, especially those with appointments slotted for today at Universiti Malaya in Petaling Jaya and Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia in Bangi.

It said those affected should have received notifications on the MySejahtera app.

Today is the start of the AstraZeneca vaccine roll-out for those who opted in on Sunday. Some 260,000 jabs have been made available to recipients in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor. – The Vibes, May 4, 2021