THE national coronavirus vaccination campaign is proceeding at a satisfactory pace which will accelerate in the second and third phases, said Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Khairy Jamaluddin.

“At the moment the rate is satisfactory. Once we get to phase three, we will have to start hitting in excess of 100,000 to 120,000 a day,” he said in a press conference today.

“We will continue to increase (the number of vaccinations) as we get more vaccines and move on to phase two and phase three.

Khairy, who is the coordinating minister for the immunisation plan, was responding to a question on whether the rollout was too slow.

Nearly 140,000 people have been vaccinated since the shots were launched on February 24.

Malaysia has so far received 520,650 doses of vaccines.

Khairy said the government is looking to administer the first dose of the vaccine to all 571,802 recipients of the first phase by the end of the month.

Critics have previously questioned whether the government will be able to reach its target of inoculating up to 150,000 people a day in the third phase of the programme, which will involve the public, citing the slow pace of the jab drive.

Meanwhile, Health Minister Dr Adham Baba, who was also at the press conference, said there were no serious side effects reported among those who received their first jab.

“There are no serious cases,” he said, adding that pain at the injection spot was among the side effects observed.

Meanwhile, Khairy said quarantine rules will still be imposed on travellers who have not received their second vaccine shot, even though they have received their first dose. – March 8, 2021.