KUALA LUMPUR, May 15 — The capacity at the Kuala Lumpur World Trade Centre (WTCKL) vaccination centre (PPV) for the AstraZeneca vaccine has been increased to 8,100 doses a day starting tomorrow, making it the centre with the capability of carrying out the largest scale vaccination exercise in the country.

ProtectHealth Corporation Sdn Bhd (ProtectHealth) chief executive officer Dr Anas Alam Faizi said prior to this, the PPV capacity was only capable of administering about 2,400 doses a day.

He said apart from the WTCKL PPV, the capacity at the Universiti Malaya (UM) and Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) PPVs for the same vaccine has also been increased from 900 to 1,300 doses a day.

"The increase in capacity at the PPV can further smoothen the AstraZeneca vaccination process and a total of 8,100 appointments are scheduled to take place tomorrow here (WTCKL).

"The first appointment is at 9 am and the last shot is expected to be at 8.30 pm. To further smoothen the process, we have also provided special lanes for individuals with disabilities,” he said when contacted by Bernama last night.

Dr Anas said a total of 500 health workers, non-health workers and volunteers were also ready to facilitate the vaccination exercise at WTCKL, and urged those with appointments to be punctual.

In a related development, he said the fourth AstraZeneca vaccine PPV, the Shah Alam Ideal Convention Centre (IDCC) is scheduled to start operating on May 24 with a capacity of 3,000 doses a day.

On May 2, the government opened Opt-in bookings for the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine for eligible individuals as well as those over the age of 18. The vaccination exercise for voluntary applicants began on May 5.

ProtectHealth, a wholly-owned non-profit subsidiary of ProtectHealth Malaysia established under the Health Ministry has been appointed as the executor for the participation of private medical practitioners in the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme. — Bernama