KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 12): The Sinovac vaccine will be made available for booster doses at all offsite vaccination centres (PPVs) under the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme for free from Monday (Feb 14).
ProtectHealth Corp Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary of the Ministry of Health (MoH), said this in a statement in the wake of Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin’s announcement that those who had completed two doses of Sinovac may choose the same vaccine for their booster shot.
“Those who are eligible for the booster dose and wish to obtain the Sinovac type vaccine can check the list of offsite PPVs on the ProtectHealth website: www.protecthealth.com.my.
“However, the MoH is still recommending Pfizer-BioNTech (Pfizer) boosters for Sinovac recipients as it offers a higher level of protection,” the company said.
Khairy, sharing ProtectHealth’s statement in a retweet, said any booster is better than no booster.
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“Although the MoH recommends a booster dose of Pfizer or AstraZeneca (AZ) to provide the best top-up protection, some are still asking for options. We still strongly recommend a Pfizer or AZ boost. But something is better than nothing,” he said.
On Feb 7, Khairy told a press conference that Sinovac recipients would be allowed to pick the same brand for their booster, as some of the recipients appeared to be reluctant to take different booster doses such as Pfizer-BioNTech and AstraZeneca.
He noted that there were 3.5 million recipients of the Sinovac primer doses who had yet to receive their booster shots.
The minister stressed that senior citizens aged 60 years and above, as well as those aged 18 years and above who have received two doses of Sinovac vaccine, need to take their booster shots by March 1 to maintain their complete vaccination status.