Choose your vaccine - Malaysiakini

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Choose your vaccine

Putrajaya took measures to address criticism of the Covid-19 national immunisation programme, including claims that it was progressing too slowly.

Among the measures include buying additional Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine doses even though the country already ordered enough to cover more than 100 percent of the population.

Science, Technology and Communication Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said with the additional purchase, more than half of the 44.8 million Pfizer doses will arrive by the third quarter of this year.

Surplus doses are unlikely to be an issue as health experts have suggested that booster shots (third shot and beyond) may be required if the pandemic persists.

Khairy also revealed that the government is mulling to allow people the option to choose their Covid-19 vaccine – a departure from the previous “no choosing” policy.

With the option, Khairy said the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine will join the mainstream national Covid-19 immunisation programme.

Previously, the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine, which had rare risks of blood clots, was offered through a separate voluntary programme because the government was worried it could hurt the overall vaccination registrations.

HIGHLIGHTS

Umno tries to turn the table

Umno sought to turn the tables on its estranged coalition partners amid the spotlight on the performance of its own leaders in government.

Umno supreme council leader Razlan Rafii (above) sought to put the focus on Bersatu and GPS leaders in the Perikatan Nasional government, who he claimed were not performing.

Several Umno leaders have been taking heat.

This included an insensitive press conference by Pasir Salak MP Tajuddin Abdul Rahman over Monday’s LRT crash that led to his sacking as Prasarana Malaysia Bhd chairperson.

Tajuddin formally received his termination letter yesterday.

Previously, Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi also sought to distance his party from the government’s “failure” in the Covid-19 battle.

This was despite two key components of the Covid-19 fight – overall standard operating procedures and vaccination – being led by Umno ministers.

HIGHLIGHTS

Azalina moots unity govt

Dewan Rakyat deputy speaker Azalina Othman Said (above), who is also Umno’s Pengerang MP, proposed the creation of a unity emergency government and the reconvening of Parliament.

She said the proposal was out of “utter frustration” and the inability to obtain answers from the government in a “crippled” democracy.

DAP’s Iskandar Puteri MP Lim Kit Siang threw his support behind Azalina.

Lim lauded her efforts and contrasted them with Dewan Rakyat speaker Azhar Azizan Harun’s passiveness despite Parliament’s suspension.

Meanwhile, the independent committee advising the Yang di-Pertuan Agong on the emergency said it had agreed on setting the criteria to end the emergency.

It provided no details. The statement appeared to be a response to Pakatan Harapan’s criticism that the panel had been “silent”.

The committee is led by Arifin Zakaria, a former chief justice who Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin has appointed to several key positions after coming to power.

HIGHLIGHTS

 

A daily glance at Covid-19

• 7,857 new cases yesterday (May 27), the third consecutive day of a new record high.
• A total of 292 people died in the first five days of this week.
• The number of patients in the intensive care unit continued to climb to a new record high of 771 with 392 on ventilators, which suggests that daily deaths will likely increase in the coming weeks.
• For trends on daily cases, tests, hospital beds capacity, vaccination progress and more, follow our Covid-19 tracker.

What else is happening?

• The government finally acknowledged that incidents of Covid-19 vaccine underdosing did take place, a week after the first complaint. However, it said such cases are rare.
• Songtress Siti Nurhaliza and her husband Khalid Mohamad Jiwa were fined RM10,000 each for failing to comply with the standard operating procedures (SOPs) against Covid-19 during a ceremony for their newborn.
• Wisma Putra is seeking information that a Malaysian called “Dr Nur” had been detained by Israeli authorities.
• A retiree who was supposed to be under Covid-19 quarantine was fined RM4,000 after he visited a market wearing a pink bracelet, which indicates that he is supposed to be under home observation.
• Sarawak will finally join the rest of the country under the movement control order from tomorrow (May 29). The state previously decided to remain under the more lenient conditional MCO despite the rest of the country going under MCO 3.0.

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