KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 16 — Covid-19 vaccine booster shots will be administered to recipients even if their appointments fall days short of the recommended interval, Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said today.
The Ministry of Health (MOH) has recommended a minimum six-month booster jab interval for recipients who are double vaccinated with Pfizer and at least three months for those who received two doses of Sinovac.
“On the booster dose, we have instructed the vaccination centres (PPVs) to administer the booster dose even if recipients are a few days short of the interval period. Of course, we won’t administer it if they are many months or even weeks short; we have asked them to exercise discretion,” Khairy said at a press conference in Kuala Lumpur today.
“If you are months short, you will not be given because the advisory is for Pfizer, it’s six months. For Sinovac, it’s three months, so if you are one month short then we will not give it but we will ask for your appointment to be sent by MySejahtera or an SMS message,” Khairy added.
The health minister also said he would chair a Covid-19 Immunisation Task Force (CITF) meeting this evening to decide on whether to permit walk-ins for booster shots.
CodeBlue previously reported that a Covid-19 vaccination centre in Kuching, Sarawak, refused to give booster jabs to at least six elderly people who turned up for their appointments last Saturday.
A 73-year-old woman, along with six to eight senior citizens in their 60s or 70s, were turned away and could not receive their boosters at the Klinik Kesihatan Kota Sentosa PPV located at Christian Ecumenical Worship Centre (CEWC) in Kuching because their appointments fell short of the six-month threshold for their additional Pfizer shot.
The elderly lady received a November 13 appointment on her MySejahtera app, just a few days early of the minimum six months’ eligibility for booster jabs for Pfizer vaccine recipients, after her second dose on May 17.
On the contrary, an anonymous government doctor interviewed by CodeBlue claimed that many health care workers received their boosters in less than six months from their second jab.
