Bernama file photo shows a woman receiving the Covid-19 vaccine at a vaccination centre,
KUCHING (May 25): Sibu and Bintulu divisions will be allocated more Pfizer-BioNTech and Sinovac Covid-19 vaccines, said National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme Coordinating Minister Khairy Jamaluddin.
He said the current AstraZeneca opt-in programme will remain limited to Kuching and Miri.
“As for AstraZeneca opt-in programme we decided to focus on the two biggest cities in Sarawak but for the divisions like Sibu and Bintulu, which are experiencing quite a high number of cases, we will be sending additional, far beyond the normal allocation,” he said during today’s Covid-19 Immunisation Task Force (CITF) weekly press conference.
He was commenting on whether the AstraZeneca opt-in programme would be extended to other divisions that have topped the list of new Covid-19 positive cases daily.
Khairy said so far 152,800 doses of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine have been allocated to Sarawak under the second round of the opt-in programme.
He also announced that the opt-in registration for AstraZeneca would be open to those under 60 years old in Klang, Penang, Johor, Kuching, and Miri tomorrow from noon.
However, priority would still be given to senior citizens when assigning vaccination slots throughout the programme.
Khairy added media practitioners nationwide would soon receive their appointments for vaccination.
“The names of 5,867 media practitioners from 144 registered media outlets have been submitted to the CITF.
“The CITF has decided to give appointments to media practitioners as soon as possible after receiving their details. This is in line with the aim to give protection to front-liners, including teachers and media practitioners,” he said.