KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia will get its first batch of COVID-19 vaccines produced by U.S. and German drugmakers Pfizer and BioNTech on Feb. 21, and kick off its inoculation drive five days after that, Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said on Tuesday.
Muhyiddin said he will be the first to receive a dose of the vaccine when the campaign starts on Feb. 26.
“This comprehensive programme is aimed at ensuring herd immunity in the community so that we can stop the spread of COVID-19 infections and bring an end to the pandemic,” Muhyiddin said at the launch of the vaccination programme handbook.
Malaysia has seen a sharp spike in coronavirus infections in recent weeks, after having largely reined in the epidemic for most of 2020. It has reported a total of over 260,000 COVID-19 cases, the third highest in Southeast Asia after Indonesia and the Philippines, and 975 deaths.
The Southeast Asian country has said it aims to cover at least 80% of its 32 million population within a year and has…
