KUALA LUMPUR, May 9 — State-owned oil and gas giant Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) has confirmed that some of its staff members have received Covid-19 vaccines under phase one of the National Immunisation Programme (NIP).

In a statement, Petronas said these staff members were considered "industrial frontliners” from Labuan who needed to be vaccinated as there was a cluster in Labuan.

"Petronas confirms that a number of its personnel in Labuan have been vaccinated as part of Health Ministry’s prescribed measures to contain the spread of Covid-19 transmission on the island.

"This vaccination was carried out under the NIP following the emergence of an industrial cluster in Labuan,” it said in the statement.

"Petronas continues to support the government’s efforts to bring the pandemic under control and applauds the hard work and sacrifices of our medical frontliners,” it added.

Phase one of the NIP began in February this year and is meant for all frontliners. Phase two is from April until August this year and is meant for the elderly, critically ill and senior citizens.

Phase three is from August until next year 2022.

Petronas’ vaccination came following a similar programme by the Pahang State Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) for hospitality workers in Genting Highlands, prompting question over the many parallel programmes for vaccination.

Malaysia has been slow in rolling out its vaccines and several days ago, NIP coordinating minister Khairy Jamaluddin said the slow roll out was due to a lack of supplies in the global vaccine distribution chain.

Last month Khairy said one of the primary reasons why the Covid-19 vaccine supply in Malaysia remains low is due to wealthier nations cornering the market.

Last week, Malaysia start opening an opt-in programme for the AstraZeneca vaccine after it was taken out from the NIP.

Malaysians from Kuala Lumpur and Selangor started getting the vaccine on May 5 after registering online on May 2.