Page 163 - MALAYSIA HEALTH SECTOR RESPONSE TO COVID-19 PANDEMIC: PERSPECTIVES FROM THE FIELD

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respectively . The COVID-19 vaccine would be given free to Malaysians;
however, the government has not made it compulsory. Instead, the vaccine
would only be administered to those who agree to take it voluntarily, and
priority would be given to the high-risk groups, including front-liners, senior
citizens, and those with non-communicable diseases, such as heart diseases
and diabetes 10,11 .

Figure 8.1: Announcement of procurement of the Astra Zeneca
Figure 8.1: Announcement of procurement of the Astra Zeneca COVID-19
COVID-19 vaccine by the Prime Minister of Malaysia
vaccine by the Prime Minister of Malaysia
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(Source: Facebook Kementerian Sains, Teknologi dan Inovasi, MOSTI )
(Source: Facebook Kementerian Sains, Teknologi dan Inovasi, MOSTI )
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The Malaysian government had also inked another agreement worth
US$22,656,200 (RM94.08 million) as an advance payment to the COVAX
facility to procure 6.4 million vaccine doses for 10% of the country's
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population to be vaccinated against COVID-19 in the year 2021 . Under this
Commitment Agreement, the Malaysian government had chosen the
Optional Purchase Arrangement that enabled the participants to decide

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