KUALA LUMPUR, May 15 — The AstraZeneca vaccination process at the World Trade Centre Kuala Lumpur (WTCKL) vaccination centre (PPV) is running smoothly despite the PPV’s vaccination capacity being increased to 8,100 doses a day from today.
A survey by Bernama found that so far the vaccination exercise at the largest-scale PPV in Malaysia was in order and special lanes have been provided for persons with disabilities (PwD).
According to ProtectHealth Corporation (ProtectHealth) chief executive officer Dr Anas Alam Faizli, there was however some congestion at the entrance to the building which was believed to be due to the vaccine recipients not adhering to the time set for their respective appointments.
“All you have to do is follow the MySejahtera appointment (time). In it (MySejahtera), the station number at WTCKL is indicated, namely station one, two or three. From there, they will be able know where they should be queueing up.
“The chaos (congestion) may be due to those who did not keep to the time,” he said when met here.
He said things had also improved after the Covid-19 Immunisation Task Force (CITF) allowed the use of the queue management system whereby recipients are given a (queue) number that will be used until the vaccination process is completed.
Dr Anas Alam said so far almost 30,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine had been used in all PPVs with the other three PPVs being Universiti Malaya (UM), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) and Ideal Convention Centre (IDCC), Shah Alam.
Meanwhile, Ahmad Faiz Mat Nor, 33, an engineer at a private company, said he had not felt any side effects so far after receiving the vaccine shot.
He said that one of the reasons he was determined to take the vaccine was because he was worried that the Covid-19 virus could infect his two children, aged two and four respectively.
“I meet people so I am at risk of being infected. When there is an opportunity to get a vaccine, I need to take it,” he said.
A housewife, Jenny Blalih Anak Yalak, 65, said she and her husband William Timmins, 68, were nervous before being vaccinated but everything was done quickly.
Meanwhile, billing officer Cheah Ai Juan, 31, said she wanted to be vaccinated as soon as possible because she works and lives in a Covid-19 red zone.
Yesterday, Bernama reported that apart from WTCKL, the PPV capacity at UM and UKM for the same vaccine was also increased from 900 to 1,300 doses a day, while the vaccination capacity at IDCC Shah Alam will be 3,000 doses a day, beginning May 24.
Meanwhile, those scheduled to receive the AstraZeneca vaccine at WTCKL PPV have been advised not to arrive way ahead of the appointed time to avoid congestion at the centre.
CITF in a statement urged the public not to arrive more than 30 minutes earlier than the scheduled time adding that ideally they should be at the PPV, 15 to 30 minutes before time.
The reminder came after there was a congestion at WTCKL when a total of 8,100 appointments were scheduled from 9am to 9pm today.
“The congestion occurred because some of the recipients arrived at the PPV very much earlier than expected. For example those whose appointment was at 6pm came as early as 2pm,” the statement read.
According to CITF the situation was further aggravated by those who ‘tried their luck’ to get vaccinated on a ‘walk-in’ basis. — Bernama
