PUTRAJAYA, April 12 — Senior citizens will be given the Sinovac vaccine under phase 2 of the National COVID-19 immunisation Programme starting April 19, said programme Coordinating Minister Khairy Jamaluddin.
He said it was decided by the COVID-19 Vaccine Access Guarantee Special Committee (JKJAV) after taking into consideration the latest data as well as application development in other countries which showed the vaccine is safe, effective and stable to be given to citizens aged 60 and above.
According to Khairy who is also Science, Technology and Innovation Minister, countries which started dispensing Sinovac vaccine to the members of population who are aged 60 years and above are Turkey with 11 million senior citizens, Brazil more than seven million recipients and Chile, more than three million recipients.
In a media conference on the development of the National COVID-19 Immunisation Programme with Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Adham Baba here today, Khairy said based on Brazilian clinical trials and papers under review showed that the secondary efficacy against moderate and severe cases for COVID-19 for Sinovac vaccine was 83.7 per cent for moderate cases and 100 per cent for severe cases.
In this regard, Khairy said the number of people who have registered for COVID-19 vaccine now stands at 8.513 million.
The Federal Territories of Putrajaya and Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Penang and Negeri Sembilan recorded the highest registration in terms of ratio to the population while registration in Sabah, Kelantan, Pahang, Terengganu and Kedah is still slow, he said.
Khairy said 31,776 appointments had been sent to phase two vaccine recipients via MySejahtera and short messaging system (SMS).
From the total, 13,218 have replied attending, 343 replied they would not be present and 18,215 or 57 per cent have not confirm their attendance.
“I am urging those who have received appointment details to reply as it would enable us carry out planning at Vaccine Centres (PPV).
“If we do no know the number turning out, there may be wastage of vaccine or insufficient vaccine doses in PPV,” he said.
For those who replied not attending, their appointments would be rescheduled and if they are still reluctant to attend, we will check the cause of their hesitation, he said.
Asked on the development to acquire AstraZeneca vaccine, Khairy said the matter would be decided next week after the JKJAV meeting and the reports from expert groups.
According to the report, European Medicines Agency (EMA) was reported as issuing a statement that blood clot from AstraZeneca vaccine shot is a rare side effect.
Source: BERNAMA