PETALING JAYA: There is no “concrete evidence” to prove that it would be safe for people who have been fully vaccinated for Covid-19 to travel interstate and internationally.
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Health minister Dr Adham Baba said this today, adding that his team was still studying reports by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as well as the World Health Organization on allowing those who have been vaccinated to travel freely.
He said that a special meeting with the National Security Council had agreed to consider the matter and will make a decision later on.
According to Adham, those who had received both doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine were all frontliners who already had permission to travel interstate.
Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin had previously suggested that Malaysians who had been fully vaccinated be given the green light to cross domestic and international borders, on the condition that they received a certificate of verification to act as an immunity passport.
Meanwhile, the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme coordinating minister Khairy Jamaluddin said discussions will be held with the human resources ministry to look into having companies give their foreign employees some time off to attend their vaccination appointments.
“We will either suggest or make it mandatory for companies to give their workers a day off to receive the vaccine,” Khairy said.
Khairy, who is the science, technology and innovation minister, added that the Covid-19 immunisation task force had also proposed that family members be allowed to travel interstate for the purpose of bringing their elderly parents to receive their jabs.
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He added that appointments for recipients under the second phase of the immunisation programme will be sent out through the MySejahtera application beginning today.
“We will send out a notification at least 14 days before the date of the vaccination appointment. We will also send a reminder to the recipient three days before the day of their appointment, and one day before, either through a text message or phone call.”
The second phase of the programme will begin on April 17 for medical frontliners, while those from high-risk groups will receive the vaccine from April 19 onwards.
Kedah, Melaka, Pahang, Sabah, Sarawak, Terengganu and Labuan are set to kick off their vaccination programmes on April 19, while other states will begin from April 22 to 26.
Environment and water minister Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man also launched a guidebook on a “green immunisation programme” for the handling of clinical waste at the press conference today.
According to Tuan Ibrahim, the nationwide vaccinations are expected to increase Malaysia’s clinical waste production, generating an estimated 2,100 tonnes of waste over the next 12 months.
He also urged the public to be considerate and properly dispose of their face masks to avoid further damaging the environment.-FMT