Malaysia will mix-and-match different brands of COVID-19 vaccines when it rolls out booster shots for eligible locals, especially senior citizens.
Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said in Parliament today that mixing the different brands would be safe for the people but did not elaborate on the reason behind the move. A growing number of countries around the world have also decided to adopt the same approach amid supply delays and safety concerns.
“We are allowing heterologous vaccination where we mix the vaccines for their booster dose, set to roll out this month,” the Rembau MP said.
“Studies on its safety have been done and we’ve been assured that it is safe to be administered,” he added. The first booster doses are set to roll out in Sarawak, starting with the elderly.
The new vaccine strategy means that an individual may receive a different vaccine injection from the one received previously.
Malaysia has so far administered doses supplied by Pfizer-BioNTech, AstraZeneca and Sinovac.
The country recorded 8,075 new COVID-19 infections today bringing the total number of cases to 2,284,640. About 90% of the adult population have gotten two doses of the vaccine.
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