Responding to former federal minister Rafidah Aziz’s call for Putrajaya to downsize vaccination centres and run them at district level, Khairy said he understood her concerns but mega PPVs were just one part of the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme.
“Our focus is not just on mega PPVs, but also on smaller general practitioner (GP) clinics that can take various appointments throughout the day.
“The strategy has been to use all types of PPVs – big, small, drive-through and mobile – to ensure that we can accelerate the vaccination programme,” he said in a joint press conference with health minister Dr Adham Baba today.
He added that all mega PPVs have been instructed to enhance SOPs and public health measures to avoid future incidents of overcrowding.
Khairy also said only 2,467 out of 7,000 GP clinics had registered under ProtectHealth, of which 1,482 have been officially appointed as vaccination centres, set to operate by June.
“We have to understand that not all GPs are presently ready with the full chain of storage for the vaccines, so we are trying to increase this as quickly as possible,” he said, adding that the health ministry was working to ease the process for other GP clinics to join in and help vaccinate the public.
He also said foreign workers would be covered under the industrial vaccination programme, which will prioritise sectors that are operating under the lockdown. An announcement regarding its commencement should be made next week.
As for vaccinations for the refugee community, Khairy said mobile units may be considered and further discussions will take place tomorrow.
Meanwhile, he said the government had decided against allowing people to choose their vaccine, following a drastic increase in the number of daily Covid-19 cases.
“When we look at the current situation from the aspect of public health, it is better to give whatever (vaccines) we have. If we give people a choice, it will delay things. In an ideal world we could do that, but we are no longer in an ideal world.”
Khairy also announced that the health ministry will be signing an agreement on procuring Sputnik vaccine with pharmaceutical firm Duopharma, after which it will be assessed by the National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency. The Johnson & Johnson and CanSino vaccines are still under assessment.
He also said another 444,600 Pfizer doses will arrive this week, while 668,520 Sinovac doses have been bottled and are ready for use.