KULAI, Feb 13 — Some 126,000 people are expected to be vaccinated per day at 600 locations nationwide beginning late February.

Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Adham Baba said seven officers would be placed at each of the 600 locations to conduct the inoculations.

"Each of the seven vaccinators is able to inoculate 30 people per day, meaning for each locality or area, a total of 210 people can be vaccinated in a day,” he said when met by reporters during the Johor Health Department's integrated operation with the state’s Labour Department to inspect foreign workers' hostels in Jalan Seelong, Senai, here, today.

Dr Adham said the first phase recipients of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine from the end of this month until April were frontline personnel, which included members of the MOH, Malaysian Armed Forces (ATM), Royal Malaysian Police, and Civil Defence Force.

According to him, the second phase which is expected to begin sometime in March involves the high-risk group comprising senior citizens aged 60 and above and the vulnerable group with morbidity problems, such as heart disease, obesity, diabetes and high blood pressure, as well as persons with disabilities.

"They have to fill in a form, either downloaded through the MySejahtera application or we will get a task force to send it manually a week before the vaccination, so they (recipients) do not have to wait long at the vaccination counter.

"We only need them (recipients) to consent to the vaccination, and we will make sure that they will be given a proper schedule on when to come and get inoculated, and prevent everyone from coming at the same time,” he said.

Meanwhile, Dr Adham said foreign workers, especially those who were among the frontliners such as doctors, pharmacists and dentists, would also receive free vaccinations.

"However, we will prioritise locals under the COVID-19 National Immunisation Plan first before looking at the foreigners working in other high-risk sectors,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Tenggara MP also dispelled the public's perception of the delay in rolling out the vaccines in the country.

"Many people think there is a supply problem in Europe, but I guarantee in terms of the supply for Malaysia, that I have been able to secure the vaccine lots required for us to implement the immunisation plan,” he said. — Bernama