Health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said the country had detected 21 clusters involving old folk’s homes since last year, 19 of which came from the third wave of the pandemic that began last September.

“Out of the 19 clusters, 15 are still active while six have ended. There are 610 cases, involving 583 Malaysians and 27 foreigners,” he said at a press conference today.

A total of 1,840 people in the homes have been screened, with nine deaths recorded.

Noor Hisham said the health ministry was looking at “stepping up” the standard operating procedures (SOPs) at care homes and ensuring everyone complied with the rules.

“We have put physical gathering activities in old folk’s homes on hold. The health ministry will be doing periodic assessments and screenings.

“We need to protect this vulnerable population,” he said, adding that no visitors will be allowed during this time.

Commenting on private hospitals requesting permission to buy their own supply of vaccines, Noor Hisham said the government was focused on prioritising the vaccine for frontliners and vulnerable groups first.

However, he assured that the government would cooperate with the private sector to ensure the country achieved herd immunity as soon as possible.

“The government will identify which private hospitals and clinics will be vaccination centres. We have already included private hospitals in phase one (of the programme), this will be expanded to other hospitals in phase two and three.”

Noor Hisham also warned the public to be wary of fake vaccines in the market, saying the health ministry was working with local authorities and Interpol to take action against vaccines being sold online.