KUALA LUMPUR, June 21 — The federal territory of Putrajaya has covered its entire elderly population with at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine, making it the first in the country to roll out Phase Three of the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme (PICK).
Putrajaya began Phase Three of PICK — initially scheduled to begin in May 2021 — a few weeks ahead of other areas in the Klang Valley, which only started the third vaccination phase today for the general public.
Vaccine registration among adults in the administrative capital reached 100 per cent, or 76,536 adults, on June 20, alongside Kuala Lumpur with 1,385,741 people registered for vaccination. Selangor, with 3,745,931 registrations or 78.9 per cent, is in third place.
“Phase Three will be activated in stages according to districts that have vaccinated their elderly population with at least one dose, such as Putrajaya, which opened up vaccination for above 18 residents a few weeks ago.
“We have activated the third phase of PICK in the Klang Valley today after considering the 99 per cent registration rate among elderly residents in Kuala Lumpur and the 88 per cent of elderly citizens in Selangor who have either received at least a single vaccine dose or confirmed their vaccination appointment.
“We’ve taken this proactive measure, instead of waiting for 100 per cent registration and full vaccination, to speed up PICK,” Khairy told a joint news conference with Health Minister Dr Adham Baba today.
He said the federal administration will continue to receive updates from state governments on elderly citizens who have yet to register for coronavirus vaccination. “Upon registration, they will be immediately put on a vaccine priority list so that they won’t be at the back of the line.”
As of June 20, a total of 5,012,982 or about 53 per cent of the 9.4 million targeted high-risk individuals — the elderly, people with comorbidities, and the disabled community — have registered under Phase Two of PICK.
Of the total that have registered under the second phase, 2,679,219 comprised the elderly, with 1,742,141 having received at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine.
“From today until June 30, we expect 757,747 appointments to be issued nationwide, where 253,719 are among individuals aged 60 and above; 83,610 are individuals aged between 40-49; and 228,397 are individuals between 50-59. The rest of the appointments will be given to those aged between 18 to 39,” Khairy said.
