KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA — Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin is set to become one of the first people in the country to be vaccinated against COVID-19, Bernama reported on Tuesday (22 December).
The move aims to assure the public that the vaccine is safe and effective.
Muhyiddin was quoted as saying that the Special Vaccine Supply Access Guarantee Committee — convened and co-chaired by the Minister of Health and the Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation — is working to secure an immediate supply of vaccines for the country.
“The government expects the first supply of one million doses of vaccine from Pfizer to be received and will be given to the target group by February 2021 at the earliest,” he said.
Muhyiddin added that the National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency (NPRA) — a body under the purview of the Ministry of Health — will continue to monitor the efficacy and safety of vaccines once they are obtained and administered.
Frontline workers will be next in line to receive the vaccine, followed by high-risk individuals such as the elderly, those with non-communicable diseases and chronic respiratory diseases.
Separately in the United States, President-elect Joe Biden received a COVID-19 vaccine live on television in a bid to similarly boost the nation’s confidence in the shots, particularly in the wake of rising anti-vaccination movements exacerbated by right-wing media personalities and conspiracy theorists.
