KUALA LUMPUR, Mar 18 — Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Khairy Jamaluddin announced in Mandarin today that the Sinovac Covid-19 vaccine from China he received was safe, as were others approved for use in Malaysia.

In a 24-second video posted on Twitter, Khairy joked that the Sinovac vaccine has also improved his command of Mandarin.

"I feel good. No matter what kind of vaccine it is, it is safe. Let us defeat the virus together. Protect yourself, protect everyone!” he said.

Malaysia commenced its national Covid-19 inoculation programme on February 24, using the vaccine manufactured by American pharmaceutical corporation Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech.

On February 27 the final batch of the Sinovac vaccine supply arrived in the country, where it will be processed by domestic pharmaceutical corporation Pharmaniaga LifeScience Sdn Bhd in bulk.

Subsequently on March 2, Putrajaya granted conditional approval to Sinovac along with the vaccine from UK firm AstraZeneca.