Towards herd immunity (14 June – 20 June)

NewMalaysiaTimes‘ weekly newsletter pulls together news and research updates on the COVID-19 vaccines in Malaysia. These updates are not all-inclusive, but they provide a summary of major updates impacting the Malaysian vaccine landscape.

The vaccination drive across the country has picked up the pace, with more organizations being roped in to assist the frontliners and more people registering. Despite much political noise surrounding leadership and government, the National COVID-19 Immunisation Programme achieved yet more key milestones.

The information published is collated from MoH, JKJAV, and all other relevant outlets. Here are highlights from this week:

Daily vaccine jabs overtake July target for the third day straight

^{The National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme (PICK) yesterday recorded its highest daily tally of vaccines administered with 221,706 doses, surpassing the government’s target for July two weeks early for the third consecutive day. In a Twitter post, PICK said 177,876 individuals received a first dose of vaccine yesterday while 43,830 others received a second dose, bringing the total doses of Covid-19 vaccine administered so far to 5,330,654. The number of daily jabs administered first topped the target of 200,000 for July on June 15, with 215,876 doses given out.}

Use all vaccine options to beat Covid, EMA tells EU

^{EU states must use all the vaccine options available to fight the coronavirus pandemic, and it is too early to tell if a particular type is best, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) said on Thursday. The comments come as several countries limit the use of so-called viral vector jabs like AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson due to a link with rare blood clots, and opt instead for messenger RNA vaccines like Pfizer and Moderna.}

China to donate 500k vaccine doses to Malaysia

^{The Chinese government will contribute 500,000 doses of Sinovac’s CoronaVac vaccines to Malaysia. Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein said today Malaysia was highly appreciative of the support extended thus far by China.}

Covid-19: Malaysia hits new high with 221,706 vaccine jabs administered nationwide

_{According to the Special Committee on Ensuring Access to Covid-19 Vaccine Supply (JKJAV), 177,876 people received their first dose while 43,830 people received their second dose. Altogether 5,330,654 vaccine doses have been administered since the start of the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme. Of the total 3,810,071 were first doses while 1,520,583 were for the second dose.}

Malaysia considering mixing Covid-19 vaccines to boost efficacy: Khairy

^{According to the Special Committee on Ensuring Access to Covid-19 Vaccine Supply (JKJAV), 177,876 people received their first dose while 43,830 people received their second dose. Altogether 5,330,654 vaccine doses have been administered since the start of the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme. Of the total 3,810,071 were first doses while 1,520,583 were for the second dose.}

Pharmaniaga on track to deliver 12 million Sinovac vaccine doses to govt in July

^{Pharmaniaga Bhd is expected to complete its contractual obligation of supplying 12 million Sinovac Covid-19 vaccine doses to the federal government by next month, sufficient to cover some 18% of Malaysia’s population. Pharmaniaga group managing director Datuk Zulkarnain Md Eusope said the vaccine had been approved by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the recognition is a boost of confidence in the battle against the pandemic.}

Mixing vaccines could be winning formula, say experts

_{While the government is studying the possibility of using different vaccines for first and second doses to boost resilience to Covid- 19 virus variants, health experts are already backing such a move locally after results abroad have shown promise. During an online talk hosted by the Oxford and Cambridge Society Malaysia, vaccine minister Khairy Jamaluddin said the government was looking into the possibility of using the AstraZeneca vaccine for the first dose and Pfizer for the second.}

Malaysia May Expedite Second AstraZeneca Vaccine Dose If Supply Permits

_{Malaysia is looking to shorten the 12-week dosage interval for AstraZeneca-Oxford’s Covid-19 vaccine, though a decision depends on the steady delivery of the shot. Vaccine Minister Khairy Jamaluddin yesterday said there is a possibility of expediting the second vaccine dose for full protection amid the spread of more contagious variants in the country, though he did not specify the dosing interval.}

Malaysia’s factory workers get Covid-19 jabs, as vaccinations top 200,000 for second day running

^{Over the past few months, many new Covid-19 cases have been reported in workplaces in Malaysia, either in factories or in workers’ accommodations. “This is because most employers still fail to abide by the Workers’ Minimum Standards of Housing and Amenities Act 1990,” said Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin. The Public-Private Partnership Industrial Covid-19 Immunisation Programme (Pikas) is expected to control the spread of the virus in the manufacturing sector and play an important role in the implementation of the National Recovery Plan, set up to boost post-pandemic economic recovery.}

Malaysia administered 5.11 million vaccine doses as of June 16 — JKJAV

_{Malaysia had administered a total of 5.11 million Covid-19 doses as of yesterday (June 16), based on the latest data from the Covid-19 Vaccine Supply Access Guarantee Special Committee (JKJAV). A total of 204,839 doses were administered yesterday, with 196,775 individuals receiving their first dose, while the remaining 8,064 received the second jab. Notably, this was the second day the country administered more than 200,000 doses of vaccines per day.} 

Disabled get vaccine jabs from the comfort of their cars

^{Nazatul was, in fact, not waiting in a hall with hundreds of other vaccine recipients, but in the comfort of her car. Sitting on the passenger seat was her son. She is among 16,000 persons with disabilities (OKU) in the Klang Valley who have been given the opportunity to receive the Covid-19 vaccine at the new drive-through PPV facility in Ara Damansara. The centre can handle up to 200 vaccinations a day. Yesterday was its first day of operations.}

Khairy Reveals Which States Will Hit 80% Covid-19 Vaccination First

^{The federal government targets five states and federal territories to reach mass Covid-19 vaccination coverage by August, with Labuan expected to hit the milestone first. Vaccine Minister Khairy Jamaluddin projected yesterday that 80 per cent of the total population in Labuan, Putrajaya, Kuala Lumpur, Sarawak, and Selangor would be fully vaccinated with two doses by the end of August, exceeding the national recovery target of vaccinating 40 percent of the population.}

Malaysia to move into second phase if average daily cases stay below 4,000 for 7 days

^{Average daily cases of Covid-19 must be below 4,000 for seven consecutive days for Malaysia to transition into the second phase of the National Recovery Plan, says Health Minister Dr. Adham Baba. He said bed utilization at ICUs must also be below 75% while 10% of the population must be fully vaccinated.}

New mega Covid-19 vaccination centre to begin operations, as Malaysia hits 5.5m dose mark

^{A total of 5,510,720 doses of Covid-19 vaccines have been given as of Friday (June 18), said Malaysian Health Minister Adham Baba, as the opening of a new mega center, is set to increase the country’s vaccination capabilities. He tweeted on Saturday (June 19) that among the total, 3,957,687 people received their first dose, while 1,553,033 have also received their second dose. Dr. Adham added that on Friday, 147,616 people received their first dose, while another 32,450 were now fully vaccinated.}

No reports here of heart inflammation linked to Pfizer vaccine, says DG

^{There have been no reports of heart inflammation after people received vaccines using mRNA technology such as Pfizer-BioNTech’s Comirnaty vaccine in Malaysia, says the health ministry. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) had reported more than 300 cases of myocarditis (inflammation of the heart muscle) out of more than 20 million adolescents who had been vaccinated, most of them males under the age of 30. In Singapore, six out of the nearly 1.9 million people who received both doses of an mRNA vaccine, either Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna, were reported to have suffered myocarditis and pericarditis (inflammation of the outer layer of the heart) as of June 7. Four of them were males under the age of 30.}

MOVAK program to help expedite vaccination

^{The implementation of Community Vaccine Mobilisation (MOVAK) program is to expedite vaccinating the people, especially the rural communities. The initiative by National Unity Ministry with Housing and Local Government Ministry, which has been conducted for two months, took into account residents who did not register for the COVID-19 vaccine due to internet coverage constraints and not having smartphones.}

NMT