PUTRAJAYA – The Health Ministry’s facilities are ready and capable of administering Covid-19 vaccines to Malaysian pilgrims if the haj is allowed to be performed this year, said its minister Datuk Seri Dr Adham Baba.
He said the Malaysian government was waiting for the haj quota to be announced by the Saudi Arabian government.
“If the haj can be performed this year, the number of pilgrims involved will be between 30,000 and 50,000. This number can be easily administered by the ministry,” he said in a press conference with Coordinating Minister for the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme Khairy Jamaluddin, on the vaccination exercise here today.
On March 3, Saudi Arabian Health Minister Dr Tawfiq Al-Rabiah was reported to have said that only people who have been vaccinated will be allowed to perform the haj.
Dr Adham said Malaysian pilgrims would be given either the Pfizer-BioNTech or Sinovac vaccines, and possibly AstraZeneca if the vaccine reaches Malaysia early.
The first batch of AstraZeneca vaccine is expected to arrive in the second quarter of this year.
According to Dr Adham, the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine will be given to pilgrims starting this May, as it requires two doses, before they start their journey to Makkah to perform the haj in the middle of June. – Bernama, March 8, 2021
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