PUTRAJAYA: The AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine will be given on a “first come, first serve” basis public in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor, says National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme coordinating minister Khairy Jamaluddin.
The vaccines, he said, will be given only to those who voluntarily want to receive them, after taking into consideration concerns from the public.
He explained that the ministry did not want the vaccine that is proven to be safe and effective to go to waste.
“However, we understand there are certain concerns among the public on the AstraZeneca vaccines.
“What has been agreed upon is a proactive measure to not use AstraZeneca in the mainstream immunisation programme.
“Instead, we will be offering the AstraZeneca vaccines at special PPV (vaccination dispensing centres) to the public on a voluntary first-come-first-serve basis,” said Khairy at a joint press conference with Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Adham Baba here earlier today.
Concerns surrounding AstraZeneca came about after several cases of blood clotting emerged among receivers of the vaccines.
“Such incidents are very rare, with only four cases out of one million people globally,” he explained.
The country currently has about 268,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccines – of which the first batch arrived in the country last week.
He also said that PPVs will be opened in Selangor and Kuala Lumpur for now, where the number of Covid-19 infections are very high.
