Khairy: Appointments for AstraZeneca jab at World Trade Centre on May 15, 16 to be rescheduled to avoid overcrowding

KUALA LUMPUR, May 10 —  A total of 2,800 appointments scheduled for the opt-in AstraZeneca vaccination programme at World Trade Centre (WTC) KL on May 15 and 16 will be rescheduled as a precautionary measure following concerns in the rise of Covid-19 cases lately.

National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme coordinating minister Khairy Jamaluddin said the aforementioned 2,800 appointments of some 19,000 appointments scheduled will be reallocated to later dates between May 17 and May 23.

“Today I would like to announce that we have a rescheduling of appointments in the vaccination centres of the AstraZeneca opt-in programme. 

“The government has taken note of the rise in Covid-19 cases which has shown a worrisome spike. Therefore as a precautionary measure, appointments on May 15 and May 16 at WTC KL are required to be amended to a different date to avoid overcrowding,” he said in a joint press conference with Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Adham Baba.

Khairy said those who have been selected for reallocation will begin receiving notifications on their MySejahtera and through SMS of their new appointment dates.

Following the rescheduling of appointments on May 15 and 16, Khairy said the number of appointments will be further reduced to 8,100 appointments for each day respectively.

He also said the national Covid-19 Immunisation Task Force planned to increase the number of halls used in the vaccination programme from May 15 onwards from the existing two to three halls.

The government previously announced a separate AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine programme last month after concerns emerged that the European-made vaccine could cause blood clots in very rare instances.

The AstraZeneca vaccines are available via separate appointments only, as opposed to the NIP — which currently prohibits registrants to choose between the Pfizer-BioNTech and Sinovac vaccines used in the programme.

In a separate development, Khairy said the second batch of AstraZeneca vaccines is slated for arrival on May 20 along with the third batch on June 1 involving a total of 615,120 doses.