KUALA LUMPUR: Some 500,000 teachers from the government and private schools will be immunised in Phase 2 of the National Immunisation Programme (NIP).
Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said the Special Committee on Covid-19 Vaccine Supply Access Guarantee (JKJAV) has agreed that teachers be given the same priority as other Phase 2 vaccine recipients such as senior citizens and those with comorbidities.
The JKJAV, he said, came to the decision after discussing the probability of Covid-19 transmission in schools.
"When we have the ability, we will start to list teachers to be included in Phase 2. Currently, the Education Ministry is listing teachers for us to include in the system.
"This is so we can issue appointments for them in Phase 2 but also subjected to the vaccine supply as well," he said during a weekly NIP press conference held jointly with Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Adham Baba.
Khairy, who is also NIP coordinating minister, said 11,902 out of 54,537 teachers included in Phase 1 have received at least the first dose of the vaccine.
The rest will be inoculated this month, he said.
Khairy added that JKJAV has also agreed to vaccinate individuals and teams that represent Malaysia in international sporting competitions under the category of national significance.
He said Malaysia's move was similar to its New Zealand counterpart which had allowed its athletes competing in the Tokyo Olympics to receive early vaccination.
"We are taking the same approach and the numbers are not huge. Our athletes are not only representing Malaysia in the Olympics but there are some who are in the qualifying phase.
"As we see, there were badminton players who returned home and tested positive for Covid-19. This shows that they too are exposed while competing overseas," he said.