KUALA LUMPUR, July 26 (NNN-Bernama) — Muhyiddin Yassin said Malaysia is one of the fastest countries to vaccinate its people against COVID-19 with vaccine injection capacity having reached more than 500,000 doses a day at present.
The Prime Minister said the government would ensure that the vaccination process is carried out in an orderly manner, fast and covered all parts of the country under the National Recovery Plan (PPN).
He said the most effective way for the country to get out of the COVID-19 pandemic crisis is to increase the vaccination capacity to inoculate the people.
“The government understands that the people are restless and worried when the daily number of COVID-19 cases shows an increase.
“The government is trying its best to overcome the crisis we are facing by speeding up the vaccination programme,” he said at a briefing session on the PPN at the Special Meeting of the Dewan Rakyat (lower house of Parliament) Monday.
The Prime Minister said the National COVID-19 Immunisation Programme (PICK) would be further intensified so that the target of 100 per cent of adults receiving full doses of vaccine is achieved earlier, that is by October, compared to the original plan of 80 per cent of adults being fully vaccinated by the first quarter of 2022.
He said that so far, the government had ordered 79.9 million doses of vaccine and of that figure, 25.2 million doses had been received.
Muhyiddin said Malaysia is expected to receive a total of 37.3 million doses in August, while another 21.9 million doses would arrive in the fourth quarter of 2021 and the rest in the first quarter of 2022.
“Alhamdulillah (Thank God), so far through the implementation of PICK, more than 16 million doses have been successfully supplied to Malaysians, with 11 million people having received the first dose and five million people completing two doses of vaccine injections,” he said.
In the meantime, Muhyiddin said the cooperation of all members of the community and the government should be harnessed to control the pandemic based on three core thrusts, including breaking the chain of transmission of COVID-19 through increased screening tests, contact tracing and isolation measures.
Second, reducing morbidity and mortality rates by increasing the capacity of the healthcare system, including optimising the capacity of university teaching hospitals, capacity under the Ministry of Defence and also through outsourcing to private hospitals.
“Thirdly, protect the health of the people as a whole by providing adequate support for needs other than COVID-19,” he said.
Muhyiddin also said that the government was also aware of the impact of the pandemic on the mental health of Malaysians and that specific measures have been taken to solve such challenges faced by the people like creating a psychosocial support line under the Ministry of Health (MOH) and channeling funds to NGOs dealing with mental health.
“True, this government is not perfect. But what is also true is that the government today will will never let the people suffer; will always act to save lives and livelihoods,” he said.
He said all parties must show solidarity in facing this difficult time and not argue and point fingers.
“Because there are people out there whose souls are miserable, there are fathers who are sinking, there are children who are suffering, while our frontliners continue to be burdened and hospitals are increasingly stressed.
“Let us all work together, seek blessings and achieve success in every venture. Water takes the shape of its container, we are guided by consensus. United we stand, divided we fall,” he said.
Muhyiddin also called on the people to get their vaccine shots quickly regardless of the make because vaccination is the best protection against the virus.
— NNN-BERNAMA