.jpg "A nurse loads a syringe with a dose of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine at the Dewan Gemilang UKM vaccination centre in Bangi May 5, 2021. u00e2u20acu201d Picture by Shafwan Zaidon")
KUALA LUMPUR, May 28 ― Former deputy health minister Dr Lee Boon Chye has urged the public to remain calm amid claims that several people had received insufficient doses of their Covid-19 vaccines, believing the incidents were likely accidental.
“I don’t think the public should be unduly worried and panic over this,” news portal Free Malaysia Today (FMT) had quoted the Gopeng MP as saying.
“I believe that any under-dosing, if it did happen, was accidental. The health officer in charge of the vaccination centre should be able to make sure there’s no recurrence,” he added.
“It should not affect the immunisation programme.”
Several people claimed they had been given reduced doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine at the World Trade Centre Kuala Lumpur, one of the designated vaccination centres for an opt-in programme held parallel to the national immunisation drive.
Lee acknowledged that reports about under-dosing would affect the public’s confidence in the vaccination programme, but he felt the allegations would not affect Malaysia’s herd immunity target, which is at 80 per cent of the population by the end of the year, the news portal reported.
The complaints were widely circulated on social media on May 20 after several people recorded themselves receiving their AstraZeneca jabs.
They said they suspected that they had been given less than the required 0.5ml dosage.
The government had said it would investigate the matter.
