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KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysia is on track to achieving its target of getting 50% of the adult population fully vaccinated this month, said Khairy Jamaluddin.
The National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme coordinating minister said the drive has shown early positive results, with 12 million vaccine doses administered last month alone – more than the eight million in total given from February to June.
“Our average daily vaccination rate for July was almost 400,000 (doses), surpassing our target of 300,000. We started the month behind advanced countries like Australia, Japan and South Korea, but finished the month considerably ahead,” he said in a video posted to Twitter today.
“Our ramp-up has been internationally recognised, and we have been recording daily vaccinations in excess of half a million doses.
This shows what we have always known: what was holding us back was not the lack of capacity, resources or competency, but rather, not having a consistent vaccine supply due to the global vaccine inequity and the hoarding of doses by certain countries, which has been condemned by the World Health Organisation.”
He said the immunisation programme has realised its goal of ensuring 100% of adults in the Klang Valley receive at least one dose following the implementation of Operation Surge Capacity, which sees an average of 235,000 doses administered each day.
He thanked all the parties involved and expressed hope of seeing the inflection point for hospitalisations and deaths in the Klang Valley in the next few weeks as more people receive their second shot.
Khairy said more than 40% of Malaysian adults are fully immunised and over 50% of the country’s total population has received at least a single dose, while 81% of all registered adults have received at least one dose.
He highlighted the inoculation drive’s effectiveness in Labuan, where 60% of the population is fully vaccinated, while the rate in Sarawak stands at 56%.
Since the start of July, the number of Covid-19 patients in intensive care has dropped by 60% in Sarawak and close to 100% in Labuan, while other key data, such as on deaths and serious hospitalisations, is also on a downtrend.
“We know that the Delta variant is prevalent in both Sarawak and Labuan, and yet, Alhamdulillah, the vaccines are having their intended effect of reducing the severity of Covid-19 illness,” said Khairy.
He encouraged more migrants, including workers, to get vaccinated, and said the immunisation programme will work with non-governmental organisations to get refugees inoculated soon.
Individuals in prisons and detention centres will get the jab in the coming weeks, he said.
“We had a very good July, and we are on track for our August targets. We need to work hard to get as many people vaccinated as quickly as possible so that our economy can open, our people can recover, and our nation can heal.
“I will not stop until every adult is fully vaccinated by the end of October. That has been my promise to you. I hope I can see this through.” – Bernama, August 15, 2021