Khairy Jamaluddin said they are targeting to vaccinate the first of these groups by early October.

He said details on the vaccine types and whether different vaccines can be mixed will be announced soon.

Khairy said the high-risk groups included the elderly, those who were immunocompromised, people with comorbidities, healthcare workers, and also workers at care homes.

He added that there had been no decision made on whether third doses were necessary for all groups of people.

“The matter is still being discussed by our experts,” said Khairy at a press conference after a meeting with the Covid-19 Immunisation Task Force (CITF) in Alor Setar, Kedah, today.

On supply and stocks for these third doses, he said the number should be enough, but vaccine suppliers must first apply for approval from the National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency (NPRA) as the earlier approvals were only given for, at most, two doses.

Speaking on the Kedah vaccination programme, he said the state would be focusing all efforts on increasing vaccinations at places with lower vaccination rates, such as Baling and Pendang.

He added that about 17% of adults in Kedah had yet to receive their first dose or had refused to get vaccinated.

“We will be roping in community leaders and district officers so these people will come forward for vaccinations,” he said, adding that they “will now have to come to them” instead of relying on vaccination centres.

Those undergoing home surveillance visiting shops

Khairy also asked the authorities to ensure stricter compliance with standard operating procedures for those issued home surveillance orders (HSOs).

Just this week, he said there were 523 MySejahtera check-ins at shops and other public places involving high-risk or positive Covid-19 patients.

He said these people were supposed to be undergoing mandatory home quarantine in Kedah at that time.

Khairy said the names of these offenders would be sent to the district health office for further action.

About 18% of these check-ins were made at supermarkets, he added.

Khairy said Kedah was on track to moving to Phase 2 of the national recovery plan, with many indicators showing positive developments, including a decreasing daily death rate and a lower number of brought-in-dead (BID) cases.

He said the ministry must however rely on data to give recommendations on when the state could move into Phase 2.

Kedah and Johor remain the only states still under Phase 1.

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