KUALA LUMPUR, March 1 — A total of 26,500 officers and personnel of the Malaysian Army (TDM) nationwide will be among the early recipients of the Covid-19 vaccine under Phase 1 of the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme.

Army chief General Tan Sri Zamrose Mohd Zain said priority would be given to officers and personnel who are deployed to areas categorised as Covid-19 red zone to protect them against the deadly virus and curb the spread of the infection.

"The implementation of this programme is expected to maintain TDM’s capacity and readiness to preserve the country’s well-being and sovereignty as well as to achieve the herd immunity objective,” he said in an exclusive interview in conjunction with the 88th Army Day at the Sungai Besi Army Camp here, recently.

He said the active role played by the Army in the implementation of the immunisation programme would help to slow down the spread of the Covid-19 infection in the community.

Meanwhile, Zamrose said TDM would be ready to provide safety control as well as assistance in terms of logistics including storage, delivery and distribution of the vaccines during each phase of the immunisation programme. — Bernama