Khairy: 1,000 GP Clinics Will Begin Administering COVID-19 Vaccines By End Of June
By 15 June, at least 500 general practitioner (GP) clinics will be turned into designated COVID-19 vaccination centres in Malaysia.
By Yap Wan Xiang — 31 May 2021, 11:28 AM
Science, Technology, and Innovation Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said 1,000 general practitioner (GP) clinics will begin administering COVID-19 vaccines by 30 June
In a press conference yesterday, 30 May, the National COVID-19 Immunisation Programme coordinating minister said the nation will see at least 500 GP clinics nationwide becoming designated vaccination centres by 15 June, before expanding to 1,000 by the end of June.
"I estimate that GPs and private hospital vaccination centres can contribute and administer 40,000 doses a day," said Khairy.
"This is our aim for the private PPVs (COVID-19 vaccination centres) subject to the availability of vaccine supplies."
He revealed the news after several parties claimed that GP clinics are not involved in the National COVID-19 Immunisation Programme
He said that the government could not roll out this implementation earlier due to limited supplies.
However, with the increase of incoming supplies in June, Khairy said it is easier to rope private clinics and hospitals into the National COVID-19 Immunisation Programme.
He said 2,500 GP clinics had registered to participate in the programme. Among those, 1,800 had attended an onboarding programme to administer the vaccines.
"Even though vaccinations are routine for GPs, COVID-19 vaccinations are a bit different due to their storage system," explained the Rembau MP.
"So, even though we want to involve more GPs, but they must first attend the training programme with ProtectHealth Corporation Sdn Bhd."
He said the onboarding programme is brief and the government will pay clinics and hospitals to administer the vaccines.
Additionally, Khairy also said the government will be rolling out a drive-through COVID-19 vaccination system
The decision was made after a pilot project at Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) in Kubang Kerian, Kelantan found success in administering vaccines.
"We have received applications from other states who are interested to do the same. We are fine-tuning the guidelines to implement this," he said, before adding that further details on how this system will be run will be made available today, 31 May.
Separately, the MINES International Exhibition & Convention Centre, UiTM Puncak Alam, and Setia City Convention Centre will also be turned into mega vaccination centres next month.
He said a total of five mega PPVs will be opened in Klang Valley by 7 June. Two more mega PPVs will be opened in Kuala Lumpur as well, namely KLCC Convention Centre and Bukit Jalil National Stadium.
