A MILLION more doses of AstraZeneca vaccines are scheduled to arrive this month, said coordinating minister for the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme Khairy Jamaluddin.

He said they will be shipped to Malaysia via the Covid-19 Vaccine Global Access or Covax facility.

“We are scheduled to receive a million more doses this month via Covax. We will expand the opt-in in other states (except Sarawak, which has declined) and ensure those without access to internet, etc. can also sign up,” the science, technology and innovation minister posted on Twitter, replying to a question on when the next AstraZeneca delivery would come. 

Recently, Sarawak Local Government and Housing Minister Dr Sim Jui Hian rejected the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine in the state. 

The first batch of the AstraZeneca vaccines arrived in the country last week. 

Earlier today, registration for voluntary AstraZeneca vaccination was completely full some three hours after its opening at noon. 

Reservations were accepted via the vaksincovid.gov.my website on a first-come, first-served basis, and 268,000 individuals in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor, aged 18 years old and above, had signed up for it. 

Putrajaya turned to voluntary registration amid safety concerns after several cases of blood clotting emerged among those who received the AstraZeneca vaccine in Europe. 

The first doses are to be administered beginning May 5. 

Khairy, in his latest tweet, said that the Special Committee for Covid-19 Vaccine Supply has closed the AstraZeneca wait list. 

He said with more vaccines that are scheduled to arrive, priority will be given to those on the wait list. 

“We have closed the AZ (AstraZeneca) wait list. There are more AZ vaccines scheduled for delivery. We will prioritise those on the wait list when the new shipment arrives.

The Covid-19 immunisation programme has three phases, targeting 80% of the population or 26.5 million recipients who will be inoculated for free. 

The first phase, from February 26 to April 30 targeted front-liners. The second phase, involving high-risk groups, started this month and is scheduled to run until August, while the third phase involving those aged 18 and above will begin next month until February 2022. – May 2, 2021.