KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA — Malaysia’s contact tracing application MySejahtera may soon be recognised as the country’s “vaccination passport”, likely starting with Singapore.
The Star reported National COVID-19 Immunisation Programme coordinating minister Khairy Jamaluddin as saying that Malaysia’s talks with Singapore regarding the mutual recognition of vaccination passports are almost finalised.
The same arrangement may be extended to other countries, subject to the approval of their respective governments, he added.
“Once you have the yellow profile on your MySejahtera, that means you are fully vaccinated.
“We will use the QR code once the COVID-19 Emergency Management Technical Committee recommends allowing certain freedoms (such as international travel) that are not currently possible,” Khairy said.
The minister also said on Sunday (20 Jun) that the government is currently weighing the possibility of relaxing COVID-19 restrictions for individuals who have completed their vaccination.
A technical committee comprising health and science experts established under the COVID-19 Vaccine Supply Access Guarantee (JKJAV) is currently studying the matter, including carrying out a clinical analysis of data obtained from other countries.
“For example in the United States, the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention has issued a guideline for fully vaccinated people, such as allowing them to remove their face masks when meeting in a room,” he said.
However, Khairy stressed that vaccination “is not a substitute for the enforcement of SOPs especially in the sectors operating during the movement control order”.
“Vaccination is very important for us to rehabilitate the country but existing SOPs such as physical distancing, wearing face masks and others must continue to be emphasised and enforced,” he added.
Between June 1 to 18, a total of 139,016 vaccine doses had been administered on average every day.
Khairy expressed confidence that the government will be able to reach its target of vaccinating 80 per cent of the population before December.
JKJAV said that Phase Three has been activated in Kuala Lumpur, after taking into consideration the high percentage of seniors registered for vaccination who have received at least their first dose or an appointment, at 99 per cent.
Starting today until 30 June, 757,747 vaccination appointments have been scheduled nationwide, according to JKJAV.
253,719 comprise seniors aged 60 and above.
228,397 are for individuals aged 50-59, while 83,610 have been allocated to individuals aged 40-49.
The remaining ones comprise those aged 18-39.
Khairy said that the government has secured a total of 73.1 million COVID-19 vaccine doses, which will cover 119.7 per cent of the total population, or approximately 38.3 million individuals.
The Statistics Department estimated that Malaysia’s population, as of last year, is 32.7 million people.
The Pfizer-BioNTech will make up the majority of the vaccine supply, at around 44.8 million doses. This will cover 22.4 million people.
The remaining 28.3 million doses will comprise AstraZeneca (6.4 million), Sinovac (12 million), and CanSino (3.5 million) vaccines, as well as those procured through the World Health Organisation’s Covax programme (6.4 million).
Through Covax, Malaysia will distribute the AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen, and Novavax vaccines.
Russia’s Sputnik V may also be part of the lineup, with Khairy stating that the government is seeking to secure 6.4 million doses of the said vaccine.
However, the vaccine is still subject to approval from the National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency, he noted.