THE National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme, which is scheduled to begin next week, can strengthen the confidence of the business and investment sectors in the country, says the Ministry of International Trade and Industry.

MITI secretary general Lokman Hakim Ali said the comprehensive vaccination programme would impact positively on the operations of the business community and industries in Malaysia.

“This programme is expected to help accelerate the overall opening and recovery of economic activities.

“It will directly increase productivity and strengthen Malaysia’s position in the global supply chain,” he told Bernama today.

Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin yesterday launched the handbook on the national Covid-19 immunisation programme, which will kick off on February 26, pending arrival of the first batch of the vaccine on February 21. 

The immunisation will be carried out in three phases, the first being from February 26 until April 2021, the second from April until August 2021, and the third from May 2021 until February 2022. 

On January 11, Malaysia, through the Ministry of Health signed an agreement with Pfizer (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd for the delivery of the Covid-19 Pfizer-BioNTech BNT1262b vaccine nationwide. 

The agreement involved acquisition of the first 12,799,800 doses of the vaccine for 20% of the Malaysian population, with two doses for each person. – Bernama, February 17, 2021.