Deputy health minister: 7.1pc of Malaysia fully vaccinated against Covid-19

SEBERANG PERAI, July 2 ― Deputy Health Minister Dr Noor Azmi Ghazali said a total 2.3 million people or 7.1 per cent of the population have been fully vaccinated, close to one of the threshold indicators to move to the second phase of the National Recovery Plan (NRP).

He said this month will be to finally have 3.2 million people or 10 per cent of the population fully vaccinated.

“We only have about 2.9 per cent to reach the 10 per cent of the population to have received both doses of the Covid-19 vaccine and we are on track to achieve that by middle of this month,” he said after visiting a Covid-19 vaccination centre (PPV) at the Seberang Jaya Expo Site here.

He said about 34 per cent of the 16 million registered have already received the first dose of the Covid-19 vaccines under the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme.

He said between 12 million to 14 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines were arriving in this month, with deliveries expected each week.

“Yesterday, the Japanese government sent us one million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine and we will be receiving another one million doses of the Pfizer vaccine from the United States,” he said.

He said the vaccines will be distributed by the Covid-19 Immunisation Task Force (CITF) to the PPVs depending on each centre’s capacity.

When asked to comment on a planned strike by contract doctors on July 26 in protest of a lack of permanent positions, he asked that they remain calm and patient as the government is looking into a solution.

Dr Noor Azmi said the issue will be discussed in the next Cabinet meeting.

He admitted that the issue has dragged on for a long time and discussed repeatedly.

He stressed that it was not because the government or the Health Ministry was not concerned about the issue.

“We are committed to help the contract doctors so I hope they are patient and wait for the Cabinet meeting to come up with a solution for this issue,” he said.

The Hartal Doktor Kontrak movement reportedly issued a three-week ultimatum to the government to offer permanent positions to all contract doctors.

They also demanded the government publish a clear selection criteria.

If the government failed to do so, the group threatened to go on strike by going on leave from July 26 onwards.