KUALA LUMPUR: The government will roll out the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme at the end of the month where 80 per cent of the nation's population will be inoculated in the biggest ever vaccination exercise in Malaysia.
Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, in a special address today, said that 80 per cent of the population or 26.5 million people will be vaccinated and it will be given to Malaysians for free.
"The Covid-19 vaccine is one of our main rays of hope in our war against Covid-19. The government has successfully procured the Covid-19 vaccine and the first batch is scheduled to arrive in the country this month.
"The first batch of Covid-19 vaccines are produced by Pfizer and BioNTech which have shown a high effective rate of 95 per cent," he said.
Muhyiddin said the programme is divided into three phases where the first would involve 500,000 health and non-health frontliners which is scheduled to end in April.
The second phase to start from April until Aug this year will be catered to those who are at risk of contracting the virus such as senior citizens, disabled and people with underlying health conditions.
The last phase, said Muhyiddin, will see those aged 18 and above receiving their doses.
"The third phase will start from May this year up to Feb next year (2022). This phase is vital to achieve herd immunity which will enable us to contain the pandemic holistically," he said.
To ensure the programme proceeds smoothly, Muhyiddin said over 600 storage centres as well as vaccination centres will be opened nationwide where the authorities have been ordered to use public and private health facilities, stadiums, convention centres, multi- purpose halls and universities as vaccination centres.
He said provisions in the Emergency Ordinance (Essential Powers) 2021 enables the government to temporarily take over halls and other facilities for the purpose of conducting the programme.
"This is the largest vaccination programme ever conducted in our country. Therefore, I urge and ask all Malaysians to put our energy and all resources we have to make this programme a success.
"You can contribute medically and non-medically, especially at the vaccination centres to make this a success.
"We are all in this together and only together can we win. Protect ourselves, protect everyone," he said, adding that the government welcomed the participation of volunteers, university students, religious scholars, non-government bodies, the Malaysian Red Crescent Society, St John's Ambulance, private sectors and all Malaysians.
Muhyiddin said Science, Technology and Innovation Ministry (Mosti) minister Khairy Jamaluddin has been appointed as the programme's coordinating minister.
Muhyiddin said Khairy will lead a special task force which will manage the programme, especially in terms of logistics and coordination between states and government agencies.
"This will enable the Health Ministry to continue to focus on the functions of health services in tackling the Covid-19 transmission which is showing a worrying trend," said Muhyiddin.