Singaporean PM's Wife Praises Malaysia For Rising Daily COVID-19 Vaccination Rate
The stateswoman made the comparison to the USA, which has similar daily dose numbers but ten times the population.
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Earlier today, 2 August, Ho Ching – Temasek Holdings chief executive officer (CEO) and spouse of the Singaporean Prime Minister (PM) – praised Malaysia's impressive vaccination rates
Taking to her personal Facebook, Ho made note publicly that our country's current daily COVID-19 vaccination rate has reached 500,000 doses.
"This is about the current run rate in the USA too – except USA has ten times the population of Malaysia," her posting read.
"Overall, two thirds of (the) USA have had their first shot, and nearly 60% have had their second shot. Malaysia is still behind (in this metric)."
She goes on to laud mass vaccination efforts which prioritise reaching as many people as possible
"Back in Singapore, smaller mobile teams are going to the neighbourhood (sic) to persuade and support older folks above 60, but especially above 70, to get their important first shot."
The stateswoman says that although full vaccination is ideal, a single dose of the COVID-19 vaccine will go a long way in reducing hospitalisation risk and death.
Ho (right) wed Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in 1985. She has served as Temasek Holdings CEO for almost two decades.
Image via South China Morning Post
Malaysia's increased vaccination roll-out is due to improved supply
Yesterday, 1 August, Malaysia managed to administer 480,122 vaccine doses across the country. This was after surpassing the 500,000 mark for a few consecutive days in the past week.
The Special Committee For Ensuring Access to COVID-19 Vaccine Supply (JKJAV) had previously pledged to reach 400,000 doses daily by August, per New Straits Times.
National COVID-19 Immunisation Programme coordinating minister Khairy Jamaluddin said the increase was only possible after increased vaccine delivery and supply from the multiple producers in Malaysia's vaccine portfolio.
In Malaysia, as of time of writing, a total of 14,247,659 (43.6% of the total population) have received at least one dose, of which 6,952,814 (21.3%) have been fully vaccinated.
A key component of Malaysia's rapid COVID-19 vaccine roll-out is the opening of large scale vaccination centres, like this one at the Bukit Jalil National Stadium.
Image via @JKJAVMY (Twitter)
Under the National Recovery Plan (NRP), Malaysia will be phasing out COVID-19 restrictions according to vaccination rates - one of three important indicators
At present, the capital region of Kuala Lumpur and surrounding Selangor are still under Phase 1 of the NRP.
At the same time, eight states have moved into Phase 2, namely Perlis, Perak, Pahang, Kelantan, Terengganu, Penang, Sabah, and Sarawak, according to New Straits Times. None are currently at Phase 3 or higher.
The indicators used to decide which phase a state or territory moves into are:
- Average daily COVID-19 cases,
- Bed occupancy levels at hospital intensive care units (ICUs), and
- Percentage of full vaccinated adult population.
Malaysian PM Muhyiddin Yassin previously said that he expects states to fully transition to Phase 4 by October this year.
Muhyiddin says that the government will conduct risk assessments before allowing any state to move into a new Phase, due to the NRP's "no turning back" stance prioritising an exit strategy.
Image via Financial Times
Confused about what is allowed and what isn't under Phase 1 or Phase 2 of the NRP? Our explainer will guide you through:
If you are experiencing symptoms and have returned a positive test, here's what to do:
In case of an emergency, you can use a self-test kit to screen yourself for COVID-19:
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