Over 500,000 Malaysians register on first day of COVID-19 vaccination campaign

Besides the MySejahtera app, the public can also register on the government’s Covid-19 special portal. EPA-EFE via The Straits Times/Asia News Network

PUTRAJAYA — Over half a million Malaysians have registered to be vaccinated on the first day of the National Covid-19 Immunization Program, said Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Khairy Jamaluddin.

Mr Khairy, who is the coordinating minister of the program, said as at 4.30pm Wednesday (Feb 24), 505,565 people had registered via the MySejahtera application.

“So, if you have not updated or downloaded the MySejahtera app, you can do so now. Once you have updated the app, the ‘Covid-19 Vaccination’ logo will appear from then on, just follow the instructions.

“You will be asked to verify information and answer several questions related to your health. Once complete, just press send, ” Mr Khairy told a press conference.

Mr Khairy said while the public could register for the program any time, the date for their vaccine shot would be based on the different phases that had been set.

Phase one of the program is for over 500,000 front-liners, followed by the second phase for those with co-morbidities and aged above 60.

Malaysian residents above the age of 18 will receive their shot in the third phase.

“Do not worry if you have not received an appointment date for your immunization as it will be scheduled in stages, according to the vaccination phase that has been identified for each individual.

“All the information received from the registration process will help ascertain who gets vaccinated, based on the priority list.

“Under phase three, priority will also be based on whether the individual resides in a red, yellow or green zone, ” said Mr Khairy.

Under the Health Ministry’s classification, districts with more than 40 Covid-19 cases in the past two weeks are declared as red zones. Green zones are districts without any cases in the same period.

Should all districts in the country go back to green zones in the near future, the Covid-19 Immunization Task Force (CITF) will conduct a risk assessment on the probability of outbreaks in different areas.

“This is very important to enable CITF to plan the logistics, taking into account vaccine stock, human resource deployment as well as catering to large-scale vaccination centres,” said Mr Khairy.

Besides the MySejahtera app, the public can also register on the government’s Covid-19 special portal at vaksincovid.gov.my or its hotline starting March 5.

For those who would like to register their dependents such as an elderly parent, they will be able to do so in mid-March.

“An announcement will be made when this function is available. With this, children can register their parents who do not have the MySejahtera app to receive their vaccine,” said Mr Khairy.