KUALA LUMPUR – Some 2,800 appointments on May 15 and 16 for the AstraZeneca jabs at the World Trade Centre (WTC) here have been rescheduled to May 17-23 to avoid congestion due to the current surge in Covid-19 cases.
Those affected will be notified starting tomorrow, said vaccination programme coordinating minister Khairy Jamaluddin.
The rescheduling will not affect appointments slated for other dates at WTC or the other three AstraZeneca vaccination centres.
“There are a total of 19,000 bookings over the two days, which is the centre’s full capacity. However, 2,800 bookings will be rescheduled for between May 17 and 23. The rescheduling will not affect appointments slated for other dates (at WTC) or the other three vaccination centres (PPVs).
“The new booking dates will be sent to those affected starting tomorrow via the MySejahtera app app and/or SMS. For those who do not receive any notifications, their appointments remain the same.”
He added that PPVs will operate 7 days a week starting June once there are more vaccine supplies.
So far, the vaccine usage is at 75%, which means out of four doses prepared, three are used.
“If possible we would like to increase the usage to 80% but not more than this as we need to have backup storage,” said Khairy in an online press conference today with Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Adham Baba.
“So far, the AstraZeneca opt-in vaccination programme has a 98% attendance. The PPVs are provided with a waiting list which calls will be made to take the place of those who did not show up. I will update the breakdown in a press conference after Raya.
“On May 19, we will be receiving more than 97,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine, May 20 more than 44,000 doses, 17,500 doses on May 21, bringing the total of Pfizer jabs received to nearly 2.5 million.
“As for the AstraZeneca vaccine, the second shipment is expected to arrive this month while the third shipment will be here early June for the Covax facility,” added Khairy.
Meanwhile, on the issue of address updates in MySejahtera, he said it was an app update feature to include postcodes and states.
“This doesn’t mean that you lose your spot in the queue. We already have your details in the vaccination programme system.
“There are a small number of users who used the Google Maps API to indicate their addresses. You can update your addresses as prompted by the app or not. It does not affect your vaccine registration. We will still inform you of your vaccination date.”
Khairy has admitted that the Covid-19 Hotspot Identification for Dynamic Engagement (HIDE) system has blind spots.
“This does not mean malls and premises listed under HIDE are not hotspots. Data has shown a huge surge of activity in malls in the run-up to Raya.
“The ones listed are large hotspots, but it was decided against listing small spots to avoid further alarm. The detailed list includes offices, factories and other premises.”
Khairy said the HIDE system will be further discussed at today’s National Security Council meeting.
He added that 180,000 doses of locally bottled Sinovac vaccine are expected this week while another 450,000 is expected to be delivered on May 18.
Adham has warned that action can be taken against employers which prohibit workers from observing self-quarantine while awaiting Covid-19 test results.
He said between May 2 and 8 (epid week 18), Malaysia logged 25,350 infections with a daily average of 3,621 cases and an 18.8% increase from the previous week.
Based on the National Institute of Health data, Malaysia has seen an increase in daily deaths (43.2%), ICU cases (15.3%), ventilator usage (30.6%) and positivity rate (0.7%).
He added that 106 new clusters have been detected between May 2 and 8, of which 44 are workplace related, 33 (community), 19 (education), 8 (religious activities), 1 (detection centre) and 1 high-risk group. – The Vibes, May 10, 2021
