JOHOR BARU, June 4 — The Pagoh multipurpose hall has been approved as the third vaccination centre (PPV) in the Muar district.

Johor Covid-19 Immunisation Covid-19 Task Force (CITF), in a statement, said the approval was given on May 11 after the application was thoroughly scrutinised.

It said that prior to this, only the Maharani Hall and the Sultanah Fatimah Specialist Hospital have been approved as PPVs in Muar.

"The decision is based on the conditions set by the federal CITF, that a PPV can be opened if it has a target number of vaccination registrations in an area with 8,000 people within a radius of 10 kilometres.

"The district administrator, through the district health office, had taken the initiative and applied for another PPV to be opened in Pagoh to implement the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme in the Pagoh parliamentary constituency, due to distance and transportation factors,” the statement read.

This new development thus dismissed claims made by three people’s representatives from the opposition, who questioned why there was no PPV in the Pagoh parliamentary constituency and Gambir state constituency, both under Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, who is Pagoh MP and Gambir assemblyman.

The visit to the site, to coordinate the opening of the PPV at the Pagoh multipurpose hall, was conducted on May 31, and the first appointment has been set for June 6, it said.

It also said that the PPV at Muafakat hall in Bukit Gambir, Tangkak, has started operation on June 1, with 45 staff.

On its first day, the Muafakat hall PPV received 150 people for their first dose of the vaccine, while another 408 people will receive their first shot on June 6 and 8. — Bernama