Vaccination for over 400 Parliament staff begins

The vaccination process for more than 400 Parliament staff began today at several vaccination centres in the federal capital, said National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme (PICK) coordinating minister Khairy Jamaluddin.

He said this was being done in preparation for the opening of the Dewan Rakyat and Dewan Negara sittings.

“We want to ensure that every Parliament staff gets proper protection against the Covid-19 infection,” he told a press conference on the development of PICK with Health Minister Dr Adham Baba today.

He said the vaccination also covered cleaning and catering staff at Parliament, while MPs had been told that staff members accompanying them to the Dewan Rakyat and Dewan Negara were also eligible for the jabs.

In another development, Khairy said Malaysia would receive one million doses of AstraZeneca vaccine from the Japanese government tomorrow and another one million doses of Pfizer vaccine from the US on Friday.

He expressed Malaysia’s appreciation for the vaccine, saying that it symbolised their confidence in the country’s fight against Covid-19 and support for the global immunisation programme.

“This vaccine contribution will enable is to intensify PICK and help Malaysia achieve the threshold value​​ outlined in the National Recovery Plan.

“All vaccines obtained will be distributed immediately to all facilities and vaccination centres (PPVs) for PICK,” he added.

He said several mega PPVs will also start operating at a higher rate today with the implementation of the second dose injection, including the KLCC PPV, with its capacity to increase to 8,000 doses daily and the Setia City PPV to 6,000 doses per day.

“All the facilities involved are prepared to accommodate higher vaccination rates to ensure smooth operation and avoid congestion,” he added.