KUALA LUMPUR: Phase three of the Covid-19 National Immunisation Programme (NIP) will kick off in the Klang Valley starting tomorrow (Monday).
NIP coordinating minister Khairy Jamaluddin said the Klang Valley recorded an impressive number of senior citizens (aged 60 and above) who have been inoculated with the first dose or received their appointments.
Therefore, he said a decision has been made to bring forward phase three in this region - Kuala Lumpur, Selangor and Putrajaya.
"Of the 217,756 senior citizens in Kuala Lumpur who registered under the NIP, 99 per cent have received their first dose or appointment.
"In Selangor, 88 per cent of the 512,721 registered elderly have been issued appointments or have had their first dose administered."
The Science, Technology and Innovation Minister was speaking during a special joint press conference with Finance Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz on the National Recovery Plan.
Phase two targets senior citizens (those aged 60 and over), high-risk group with chronic diseases such as heart disease, obesity, diabetes and high blood pressure and people with disabilities.
Phase three - which targets 13.7 million people or more - was initially scheduled to run from May 2021 to February 2022, but was delayed due to a lack of supplies in the global vaccine distribution chain due to priorities given to developed countries by pharmaceutical companies.
Phase three covers those aged 18 years and above (citizens and non-citizens) with priority given to those in the red zones; followed by those in yellow zones and finally those in green zones.
Khairy explained that this was the reason as to why younger people under the age of 60 in the Klang Valley have been receiving their appointments.
"Several districts have completed phase two and covered the senior citizens, hence we proceeded with issuing jab appointments for those eligible under phase three."
Putrajaya, he said started phase three a few weeks ago as all its registered senior citizens have received their jabs.
Khairy said appointments for phase three will be given out on a first-come, first-serve basis where those who registered first in February will receive their slots soon.
"This will be done simultaneously without us taking the vaccine supply from the senior citizens as we now have additional supply. Thus, we decided to start or speed up phase three.
"If more senior citizens register in the future, they will automatically be prioritised."
Khairy noted that as of June 19, 5.675 million doses have been administered (4 million first dose and 1.5 million who have completed both doses), adding that all registrants would receive their appointments in the next two or three months.
He also said 65 per cent of the population aged above 18 have already registered.
On calls to vaccinate children aged 12 to 18, he said a decision will be made soon.