KKUALA LUMPUR, Mar 17 — Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin received his second dose of the Pfizer-BionTech Covid-19 vaccine in Putrajaya today to complete the vaccination protocol

Muhyiddin was the first person in the country to receive the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine on February 24, which also marked the first shot in the National Immunisation Programme.

Today, he received his second scheduled dose at the Precinct 18 District Health office in Putrajaya, one of 532 vaccination centres nationwide.

Pictures of Muhyiddin taking his second shot were shared on the Ministry of Health twitter handle today with Muhyiddin holding up a placard stating he had gotten his second dosage.

He is expected to make a national address later today at 5.30pm.

Malaysia is targeting to vaccinate at least 70 per cent of the population in order to form herd immunity against Covid-19.

Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah and four other frontliners also received their second vaccine shot today along with Muhyiddin.

"After receiving their vaccinations, the prime minister, Dr Noor Hisham and four other medical workers were brought to the observation room to check for side effects should there be any, between 15 and 30 minutes,” the Ministry of Health (MOH) said in a statement later.

Today is the 21st day of the Covid-19 National Immunisation Programme, which is still in the first phase.

The MOH said that up until March 16, 346,508 people had received their first dosage of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, making up 69.3 per cent of the overall targeted vaccine recipients for the first cycle, which stands at 500,000 people.

"This is a very good achievement and the MOH is confident that the first phase which would end at the end of April 2021, would be executed smoothly and well and successfully, within the fixed period,” MOH said.

It added that to date, 5.74 million people have registered to receive their vaccination shots via the MySejahtera application for the second and third phases later.

MOH also urged the public to register for their Covid-19 vaccination via MySejahtera or through the government’s official website at www.vaksincovid.gov.my, or the fixed hotline at 1-800-888-828, as well as in clinics and hospitals which conduct the vaccination outreach programme.