Columbia Asia Hospital medical officer Dr S Malar Santhi said when anti-vaccine groups are able to confuse the public about the vaccine, they can then sell products they claim can replace the Covid-19 vaccine, such as vitamin C, magnesium or a variety of oils.

“In addition, anti-vaccine groups in the country seem to get a thrill whenever they influence someone to reject the vaccine.

“That’s what they gain based on my observation,” she said on the “Malaysia Petang Ini” programme entitled “Nation’s Vaccination Programme Will Succeed” aired on Bernama TV here today.

Malar, a medical officer who is active on social media, also explained that most individuals who reject the vaccine do not have valid or reasonable facts and information.

She expressed the belief that the nation’s vaccination programme will succeed and urged all Malaysians to be confident in taking the Covid-19 vaccine as frontliners and Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin himself will be receiving the Covid-19 vaccine shot first.

The National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme will be implemented in three phases beginning tomorrow, with Phase 1 from Feb till April for frontliners involving 500,000 people.

Phase 2 will begin from April to August and involve the elderly group aged 65 years and above, the high-risk group and people with disabilities, for a total of 9.4 million people, while Phase 3, beginning May till Feb 2022, is for those above 18 years, both Malaysians and non-Malaysians alike, with an estimated total of 13.7 million people.

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