COVID-19 vaccination in Malaysia
The National COVID-19 Immunisation Programme (Malay: Program Imunisasi COVID-19 Kebangsaan), abbreviated as NIP or PICK, is a national vaccination campaign that is currently being implemented by the Malaysian government as an approach in curbing the spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and to end the COVID-19 pandemic in Malaysia by successfully achieving the highest immunisation rate among its citizens and non-citizens that are residing in Malaysia.[1] It is the largest immunisation programme implemented in the history of the country, and it is being administered by the Special Committee for Ensuring Access to COVID-19 Vaccine Supply (JKJAV) since early 2021.
Date
24 February 2021 –10 January 2022
"Lindung Diri, Lindung Semua"
To be fully protected against COVID-19 and transit the country from pandemic to endemic stage
Ministry of Health and the Special Committee for Ensuring Access to COVID-19 Vaccine Supply (JKJAV)
- As of 10 January 2022:
- 26,027,402 have received the first dose of a two-dose vaccine or a single-dose vaccine
- 25,653,398 have received the second dose of a two-dose vaccine or a single-dose vaccine
- As of 10 January 2022:
- 79.7% have received the first dose of a two-dose vaccine or a single-dose vaccine
- 78.6% have received the second dose of a two-dose vaccine or a single-dose vaccine
Despite running smoothly for the most part, the programme was plagued with numerous controversies and issues from a slow vaccine rollout rate due to lack of vaccine supplies despite the Malaysian government has purchased more than enough for the population, a poor priority of who will receive the vaccine first, logistical issues with the MySejahtera's digital vaccination appointment and certificate system, false news about vaccines, outbreaks and overcrowding of vaccination centres, to poor treatment from the volunteers and authorities on foreign workers.[2][3][4][5][6][7] Videos of recipients getting empty shots also surfaced, and the government claimed that the issue was due to human negligence stemming from the fatigue faced by the vaccinators involved.[8][9] Additionally, there were rumours of vaccine spots being sold by volunteers; however, these rumours are unverified.
A whole-of-government and whole-of-society approach has been adopted in assisting the programme, which involves several ministries and government agencies, state governments, nongovernmental organisations (NGOs), the private sector, and members of the community to ensure that the programme achieves its target. Khairy Jamaluddin, who was also Malaysia's Science, Technology and Innovation Minister (MOSTI), was appointed as the Coordinating Minister for the National COVID-19 Immunisation Programme after being approved by the Malaysian Cabinet until his resignation on 16 August 2021.[10][11]
The immunisation programme is currently being implemented in phases from 24 February 2021 to February 2022 starting with phase 1 of the programme, which consists of healthcare workers and frontliners. Then Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin became the first individual in Malaysia to receive the Pfizer–BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine when it was broadcast live nationwide.[12] Based on reports from the third week of September 2021, Malaysia averaged about 244,588 doses administered each day and with that rate, it will take a further 27 days to administer enough doses for another 10% of the population in the country.[13]
Malaysia's MySejahtera app is ranked first in the world for install penetration rate and open rate among the Top COVID-19 Apps by Downloads Worldwide in 2021, according to the State of Mobile 2022 report.[14]
Committees in charge[edit]
The Special Committee for Ensuring Access to COVID-19 Vaccine Supply[edit]
The Special Committee for Ensuring Access to COVID-19 Vaccine Supply, also known as the Special Committee on COVID-19 Vaccine Supply (Malay: Jawatankuasa Khas Jaminan Akses Bekalan Vaksin COVID-19; abbreviation: JKJAV), is a government body that was established to ensure the procurement of COVID-19 vaccine supply for the country can be carried out smoothly and in order. It is currently being co-chaired by the Malaysian Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation. The members of the committee consist of the Ministry of Finance Malaysia, Ministry of International Trade and Industry, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of Communications and Multimedia, National Security Council (MKN), Attorney General's Chambers and the Prime Minister's Special Advisor on Public Health according to the governance structure figure for the national vaccination programme.[15][16]
COVID-19 Immunisation Task Force[edit]
The COVID-19 Immunisation Task Force, or CITF (Malay: Jawatankuasa Petugas Khas Imunisasi COVID-19), is a committee that was established based on the decision made during a cabinet meeting held on 20 January 2021 by the Government of Malaysia to ensure that the vaccines' distribution is done flawlessly. Initially led by Khairy Jamaluddin, who was the Coordinating Minister for the National COVID-19 Immunisation Programme, it acts as the coordinating committee for the monitoring framework as well as the overall strategy to support the implementation of the National COVID-19 Immunisation Programme (PICK). The main tasks of the CITF are to plan, implement, and monitor the supply and distribution of vaccines; vaccination enrollment; preparation of vaccine storage centres and vaccination centres; reporting of vaccination key performance indicators (KPI); and risk management throughout the implementation of the immunisation programme.[17]
COVID-19 Immunisation Task Force–Adolescent[edit]
On 15 September 2021, the COVID-19 Immunisation Task Force-Adolescent (CITF-A) was formed under the Ministry of Health to target full vaccination for 80% of Malaysians aged 12 to 17 years before the reopening of schools. CITF-A is chaired by Deputy Health Minister Noor Azmi Ghazali, and it is tasked with overseeing the National COVID-19 Immunisation Programme for Adolescents (PICK Adolescents), which will be conducted via a scheduled walk-in process starting from 23 September 2021 onwards.[18] It will also target students for vaccination in the private education sectors, adolescents in protection and rehabilitation programs, as well as the refugee communities, the homeless, and non-citizens in Malaysia.[19][20]
History[edit]
2020[edit]
In mid-March 2020, Malaysian Vaccines and Pharmaceuticals (MVP) Sdn Bhd reportedly pleaded for cooperation and support from the federal government, with its executive director claiming that their company faced multiple postponed meetings in an attempt to meet the health minister to request a sample from the Institute of Medical Research (IMR) of Malaysia.[42] The IMR was set to begin testing existing local vaccines in collaboration with the MVP and the University of Malaya's Tropical Infectious Diseases Research and Education Centre (TIDREC) by 25 March. The local vaccine testing will be conducted in UM's TIDREC laboratory, which is one of Malaysia's modular biosafety level 3 (BSL3) facilities previously used to study highly pathogenic agents such as MERS coronavirus and Nipah virus with the vaccines to be firstly tested on the infectious bronchitis virus (IBV), which is an avian coronavirus, as previous research shows that the IBV in poultry has high genetic similarity with the human coronavirus.[43][44]
On 6 October, the engineering company Bintai Kinden entered into a distribution and licensing agreement (DLA) with the American–based firm Generex Biotechnology Corp and its subsidiary NuGenerex Immuno-Oncology Inc to distribute their COVID-19 vaccine in Malaysia through its subsidiary Bintai Healthcare. The company will also have the first right of refusal to commercially exploit the vaccine within Australia, New Zealand and the global halal market.[45]
On 18 November, the Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation Khairy Jamaluddin signed an agreement with Chinese Science and Technology Minister Wang Zhigang for Malaysia to be given priority access to COVID-19 vaccines developed in China.[46]
On 19 December, Health Minister Adham Baba confirmed that the Malaysian Government would be concluding an agreement with British pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca to purchase COVID-19 vaccines on 21 December 2020. This is the third agreement that the Malaysian Government had concluded with vaccine suppliers including COVAX and Pfizer to address the country's vaccine needs.[47]
On 22 December, the Malaysian Government signed an agreement with AstraZeneca to obtain an additional 6.4 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines, which account for ten per cent of the country's vaccine supply. Prime Minister Muhyiddin confirmed that Malaysia had secured 40% of its vaccine supply through joint agreements with COVAX, Pfizer, and AstraZeneca.[48]