KUALA LUMPUR – Putrajaya’s Covid-19 Vaccine Supplies Access Guarantee Special Committee is mulling the decision to provide free Covid-19 vaccination to foreign workers, expatriates and permanent residents in Malaysia.
Committee chairman and Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Khairy Jamaluddin told reporters today that this decision will involve the Human Resource Ministry, Home Ministry and Foreign Ministry.
“We will have a committee meeting in a couple of weeks. We will invite the Foreign Ministry, Home Ministry and Human Resource Ministry to make a decision on whether the vaccine should be given for free to foreigners.”
Khairy added that when it comes to foreign workers, they need to consider documented as well as undocumented migrants working in the country.
Their aim is to try and target as many of these workers as possible.
“The principle is simple – we need to vaccinate them to ensure that we are all safe. The more we vaccinate, the safer we are. If we vaccinate only our people but not the three million foreigners, we are at risk because we would have reached the threshold for herd immunity.
“If we ask them or their employers to pay, it becomes an obstacle for them. They might say it is not required to vaccinate them. We are considering this very carefully.”
The meeting to decide on the matter is expected to take place at the end of January.
Once the committee has made its decision, it will then present it to the cabinet for approval. – The Vibes, January 5, 2021
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