Malaysia to kick off COVID-19 vaccination drive next week
- by Carmen Reese
- in Science
- — Feb 17, 2021
"The lack of progress towards peace is leaving millions of people suffering from the impacts of war and the global COVID-19 pandemic, whilst limiting humanitarian access to extremely vulnerable communities", he said.
The first phase of Malaysia's vaccination drive will run from February to April, and involve 300,000 medical and 200,000 non-medical frontline workers - including politicians, security and welfare officers, Science Minister Khairy Jamaluddin told reporters after the launch.
Vaccinations against the novel coronavirus began in Japan on Wednesday, targeting some 40,000 medical workers.
Khairy said the Pfizer-Biontech vaccines would arrive via a MASKargo flight at KLIA on Sunday, after which they would be sorted and dispatched to the various specialised storage facilities across the country.
Supplies of imported vaccines are a major concern because of supply shortages and restrictions in Europe, where many are manufactured, Kono said.
The health service across the United Kingdom has been working tirelessly to vaccinate those most at risk as quickly as possible after the government secured effective vaccines early.
Lynn Sutfin, a spokesperson for the state health department, said Michigan's allotment of Pfizer and Moderna vaccines must be divided up among state and local health departments, tribes, hospitals, pharmacies, and federally qualified health care centers.
"We will also have protocols in place if excess doses are not used".
Malaysia has ordered Covid-19 vaccines from five developers - Pfizer-BioNTech (32 million doses), AstraZeneca (12.8 million doses, including from the global COVAX initiative), China's Sinovac (12 million doses), China's single-shot CanSinoBio vaccine (3.5 million doses), and Russia's Sputnik V (6.4 million doses).
Among the potential contraindications (a condition where a vaccine should not be administered due to harm to the person receiving the vaccine) highlighted in the National Covid-19 Immunisation Manual include those who have severe allergies, pregnant and breastfeeding mothers, those who are positive with Covid-19, and those who have problems with their immune system.
Nigerian government planned to vaccinate approximately 109 million citizens that will be eligible for the Covid-19 vaccination in two years, a senior health official has said.
"Safe, timely, and efficient transportation of life-saving supplies is critical to supporting access to essential services for children and families", said UNICEF.