PLENTY of slots are still available for the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccination opt-in programme, almost 24 hours after registration opened yesterday.

Current registration is for elderly citizens aged 60 and above. Registrations for anyone else below that age will open on Wednesday.

A check on the online registration system at www.vaksincovid.gov.my showed there will still plenty of slots available at the World Trade Centre Kuala Lumpur vaccine dispensing centre from June 8.

Slots at Universiti Malaya are still available from June 16.

In Selangor, both Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia and Ideal City Convention Centre Shah Alam have slots open from June 23 onwards.

On Twitter, the Special Committee on Covid-19 Vaccine Supply Access Guarantee said the vaccination programme at the Ideal City Convention Centre will begin today. 

The committee said free parking is provided from the fourth to sixth floors, and there is also a special drop off point for passengers with disabilities. 

Due to overwhelming response for the first round of the opt-in programme, which was only made available in Klang Valley, Coordinating Minister for the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme Khairy Jamaluddin said the second round will be expanded to Johor, Sarawak and Penang. 

In Penang, slots at Spice Arena Convention Centre, the sole vaccination centre in the state, is still available from June 14 onwards.

In Johor, registration at the Persada Johor International Convention Centre is available from June 15 onwards. It is also the sole vaccination centre in the state for the programme.

Two centres are opened in Sarawak, they are Borneo Convention Centre Kuching (BCCK) and Institut Kemahiran Belia Negara Miri (IKBNM). 

Slots are free at both BCCK and IKBNM from June 10 onwards. 

The expansion of the AstraZeneca opt-in vaccination to Johor, however, is being criticised on Twitter by some social media users as the vaccine will be dispensed from only one centre in Johor Baru.

Twitter user @fareezropi said it was “stupid” to have only one vaccination centre for the whole state and to expect especially elderly people travel for hours to get the injection.

“Whose stupid idea was it to have only one AstraZeneca PPV in Johor Baru for the whole of Johor? Did you fail your geography?

“Johor is huge. Elderly folk living in Labis, Mersing and Batu Pahat will have to travel for hours just to get the vaccine in Johor Baru,” he tweeted. – May 24, 2021.