PUTRAJAYA: The government is confident of meeting its target to vaccinate 571,802 frontliners under the first phase of the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme (NIP) with the first dose by the end of this month.
Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said a total 139,720 frontliners have received the first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine since Feb 24.
The coordinating minister for the NIP also said a total 221,819 frontliners who had registered under the first phase of the programme have been given the date and time for their vaccination.
"At the moment, the rate (of the implementation of the NIP) is satisfactory," he said during a weekly press conference on the implementation of the NIP here today.
Present during the virtual press conference was Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Adham Baba.
He said Sarawak is the state with the highest number of people to have received their first dose at 22,140 people, followed by 14,473 in Pahang, Selangor (12,336), Kelantan (11,927) and 11,739 in Sabah.
Malaysia, said Khairy, is doing better in the rolling out of the national vaccination programme – the largest in the country's history, compared with other countries in the region.
As a comparison, Khairy said Australia has inoculated about 82,000 people since Feb 2 while some 7,000 people in Thailand have been vaccinated since Feb 28.
"If you look at our regional peers, we are doing better than other countries.
"Of course this is not a race. We are racing against ourselves to make sure we do the best possible in Malaysia.
"Together with Dr Adham, we are satisfied with the present rate and will continue to increase the number of people getting vaccinated with the arrival of more Covid-19 vaccines," he said.