KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 25 — A total of 637,000 individuals have registered for the Covid-19 vaccine through the MySejatera application as of 9pm yesterday.

Senior Assistant Director-General of the Disease Control Division at the Ministry of Health (MoH) Dr Mahesh Appannan said the application was so far considered the most effective medium to disseminate information on Covid-19, including the vaccination programe.

"The MySejahtera application now has almost 21 million unique users and they are all active, every day we get almost 18 to 20 million check-ins. This shows there is much interaction and use of the MySejahtera by the people.

"Currently, we do not make it mandatory to use MySejahtera, but we encourage Malaysians to use it. Mandating something is not always our strategy, it should be voluntary," he said during the Ruang Bicara programme aired on Bernama TV.

Medical Mythbusters Malaysia’s vaccination campaign strategic planning exco Dr Megat Mohamad Amirul Amzar Megat Hashim was also present.

Earlier yesterday, Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin launched the Covid-19 vaccination registration programme through the MySejahtera application to facilitate the implementation of the immunisation programme.

The launch ceremony was held after the Prime Minister received the first of two doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine at the Putrajaya Health Office at about 2.43 pm, becoming one of the first individuals in the country to receive the vaccine.

Registration for the Covid-19 vaccination through the MySejahtera application is one of the five methods provided by the government for the purpose.

The public can also register via the website ‘www.vaksincovid.gov.my’, or for offline registration, they may contact the hotline which will be announced soon; head to the nearest public or private healthcare facility; or through assistance programmes for residents in rural and inland areas.

In the meantime, Dr Mahesh assured Malaysians of the safety of user data stored in the MySejahtera application, as it was protected under important acts such as the Medical Act 1971 and the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases Act 1988, besides having a strategic collaboration with the National Cyber ​​Security Agency. — Bernama