Khairy Jamaluddin says the Vaccination Technical Working Group will recommend eligibility groups and inclusion of the Sinovac and AstraZeneca shots for heterologous vaccination.
Two Chile and Turkey studies show higher protection against Covid-19 with Pfizer as a booster dose compared to Sinovac for those double vaccinated with Sinovac.
Travellers from approved countries, including Malaysia, who are fully vaccinated with the newly authorised Sinovac, Sinopharm, or Covaxin, will be exempt from quarantine requirements upon arrival in England from Nov 22.
SAGE recommends a third dose of the same Sinovac or Sinopharm vaccine as part of the primary series of Covid-19 vaccination for the elderly, but another vaccine type can be used if supplies are limited.
The National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency recommends priority of Sinovac’s Covid-19 vaccine for teens aged 12-17 without comorbidities and who have allergies or contraindications to Pfizer.
Majority of the fully vaccinated against Covid-19 in Sarawak, Selangor, KL, and Terengganu received Sinovac, while Pfizer was mostly used in Labuan, Perlis, Sabah, Pahang, Negeri Sembilan, Kelantan, Kedah, and Putrajaya.
Selangor only started receiving delivery of its purchased 2.5 million Sinovac doses in June despite making payments for the vaccine back in February, while PICK started receiving Sinovac in March.
Selangor MB Amirudin Shari says to date, about 77% of Selangor’s adult population have received at least one Covid-19 vaccine dose, including 44% who are fully vaccinated.