PUTRAJAYA – Some foreign analysts have given an inaccurate picture of the Malaysian Covid-19 vaccination programme as they did not use the latest data in making their comparative analysis, said Communications and Multimedia Minister Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah today.
He said information provided by a vaccine tracker last April projected that it would take Malaysia 4.9 years to fully vaccinate 75% of its population.
“However, if we were to refer to the same tracker today, the 4.9-year period has changed to only five months. This new projection is based on the daily vaccination rate of 262,000 doses. So, if based on a daily vaccination rate of 375,000 doses, the target of vaccinating 75% of the population can be reached within three to four months,” he said in a statement today.
The minister said when the tracker published its projection last April, the Malaysian government had already issued its vaccination roll-out plan, but the information was not used in the analysis.
“This caused the not-so-good assessment of Malaysia’s position during the publication of the projection. Selective data analysis like this does not give a true picture of reality and can cause public distrust,” he said.
Saifuddin said, even though the parties involved had corrected the information, the spread of the inaccurate information had already been done.
While calling on all quarters to give their full cooperation in the implementation of the national Covid-19 vaccination programme by sharing only authentic and verified information, he said vaccination is indeed the best way to protect lives.
He said the implementation of the immunisation programme has shown encouraging results so far, with 11 million shots administered, putting the country on track to achieving herd immunity by year-end.
Citing MoH data, Saifuddin said the vaccination rate for every 100 people in Malaysia is much higher than other countries, including the United States, South Korea and the United Kingdom. – Bernama, July 13, 2021
