THE government will kick start its Covid-19 vaccination drive on Wednesday, two days earlier than initially planned said Khairy Jamaluddin.

The Science, Technology and Innovation Minister said Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin and director-general of health Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah will be the first Malaysians to receive the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.

Khairy said the decision to bring forward the vaccination programme was made today after a discussion with Health Minister Dr Adham Baba.

He noted that all arrangements for the nationwide vaccination drive were in place.

“The prime minister and the Health D-G will be first, then the vaccinators. They need to be vaccinated before they can vaccinate others,” said Khairy, adding that the prime minister will receive his first shot at a Putrajaya health clinic after Wednesday’s cabinet meeting.

The first batch of 312,390 doses of the vaccine arrived on flight MH604, a MAS Kargo Airbus A330-300, at 10.07am this morning at Kuala Lumpur International Airport.

Adham, Khairy and Transport Minister Dr Wee Ka Siong were at the airport to receive the vaccine.

Khairy said the vaccines will be sent to 16 storage centres nationwide.

“The centres are secure locations in Johor, Selangor, Penang, Wilayah Persekutuan and Putrajaya,” he said.

The first phase of the vaccination programme will run until April, focusing on front-line medical staff.

In the second phase, from April to August, people in high-risk groups, the programme will concentrate on people aged 60 years and above, people prone to serious or life-threatening illnesses, and disabled people.

The third phase, from May until February next year, is for people aged 18 and over. – February 21, 2021.