After more than a year of the country ‘combating’ the COVID-19 pandemic that has claimed more than 1,000 lives so far, finally last Sunday, the vaccine that is the hope of dealing with the epidemic has arrived in the country. day.
This historical day occurred at about 10 am when the first batch of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines arrived at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) via Malaysia Airlines flight MH604 by Airbus 330-300 aircraft operated by MASKargo.
The vaccine is from the Pfizer plant in Belgium with flights carrying the vaccine from Puurs and transitted at Leipzig Halle Airport before continuing to Singapore for distribution to other Asia Pacific countries including Malaysia.
It will also pave the way for the National COVID-19 Immunisation Program which will begin in stages starting February 26.
As scheduled, the first individual to be given the treatment is Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, who will receive his vaccine injection along with other frontline staff on the first day of the program.
The National COVID-19 Immunisation Program — the largest ever that has been implemented in Malaysia — consists of three phases, of which the first phase from February 26 to April will involve the vaccination of the country’s frontline workers.
The second phase, from April to August, will involve those categorized as high-risk groups, such as the elderly.
The third phase will involve adults 18 years and older, from May 2021 to February 2022.
Pictures by NST, RHTK & Anwar Amro/AFP