THE government has devised a compensation scheme for vaccine recipients who experience severe side effects, said Khairy Jamaluddin.

The minister overseeing the national vaccination campaign said the cabinet has decided on ex-gratia payments for such cases.

“We will make the announcement soon,” he said.

The first batch of 312,390 doses of the vaccine arrived on flight MH604 at 10.07am this morning at Kuala Lumpur International Airport.

The government will roll out vaccinations on Wednesday, two days earlier than planned.

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

The doses will be distributed among 16 storage centres nationwide.

The first phase of the vaccination programme, focusing on frontline medical workers, will run until April.

The second phase, from April to August, will see to the inoculation of the elderly, people with chronic illnesses, and the disabled.

The final phase, from May until February next year, is open to all who are aged 18 and above. – February 21, 2021.