KUALA LUMPUR (July 23): Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin will in due course announce the benefits and leeway for individuals who are fully vaccinated against Covid-19, Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Adham Baba said today.
Speaking at a media briefing, Dr Adham said currently 21% of the Malaysian adult population are fully vaccinated, and the country has passed the 10% vaccination threshold to move from Phase One to Two.
"To enter Phase Three of the National Recovery Plan, we need 40% of the population to receive both jabs but some places have already exceeded that target.
"We have suggested that some privileges be granted to those who have received their second dose and have passed the two-week period. This will be announced by the prime minister in the near future," he said.
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Meanwhile, Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said most countries recovering from the pandemic have started to introduce vaccine benefits to fully inoculated citizens when a threshold of 30% to 40% of the population has been vaccinated.
"So when we reach 30% to 40% vaccination rate, we can start giving these benefits and leeway, maybe for activities such as sports like badminton, tennis.
"It's not a full opening but certain restrictions can be lifted," he added.
Dr Noor Hisham also shared that the number of cases in the country will be declining once vaccination rates for second doses reach 40% to 50%.
Malaysia witnessed the highest vaccination rate in a day yesterday (July 22) with 507,050 doses administered.
Based on the latest data from the Covid-19 Immunisation Task Force, the country's total number of administered Covid-19 vaccine doses has passed the 16 million mark to reach 16.02 million.