KUALA LUMPUR, July 19 — Walk-in vaccinations for those without appointments in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor will start from August 1 including those who are undocumented, the Covid-19 Immunisation Task Force (CITF) said today.

However, those with scheduled appointments must follow their given dates, the CITF clarified.

The CITF issued a statement in response to a message spreading that unvaccinated adult residents of Selangor and Kuala Lumpur could walk into any vaccination centre (PPV) on August 1 to be vaccinated. A total of 56 PPVs were listed in the message.

"Referring to the viral message on walk-ins in Selangor and Kuala Lumpur on 1 August, 2021, the CITF would like to inform that this walk-in initiative is for those who are unaccounted for and have not received an appointment after that date, and not for people who have already been given their respective appointments.

"Individuals in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor who have previously registered will be given an appointment soonest. Individuals who have not yet registered, but do not have any issues doing so, are also encouraged to register for vaccination as soon as possible. The CITF would also like to inform that the PPVs which will operate for walk-in purposes in August will be updated and informed later, whereby the existing PPVs will not necessarily be open for this walk-in initiative,” the CITF said.

It also advised people to get vaccinated owing to the emergence of more aggressive variants of Covid-19.

On July 16, Khairy who is the coordinating minister for the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme (NIP), announced that the government was introducing "Operation Surge Capacity” to ensure that every adult resident in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor will receive their first dose of the two-shot Covid-19 vaccination by August 1.

The science, technology and innovation minister made the announcement in a virtual news conference.

He said that 3.5 million out of 6.1 million adults in both Kuala Lumpur and Selangor have received their first doses.

Khairy also announced that after August 1, those who live in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor but are not accounted for by the DOSM, can walk in to any PPVs for their first doses.

"We have made the decision that on August 1, after we settle the Operation Surge Capacity, all PPVs in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor will be walk-in for people to receive their vaccines so we can vaccinate anybody who have not received their first doses, in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor,” he said, adding that this includes undocumented migrants and anyone else without documents.

Khairy said that the CITF expects 1.3 million people to receive their first vaccination dose from now until July 25, while the other 1.3 million people will be receiving their first dose jabs between July 26 and August 1.

* The report was updated to state that walk-in vaccination was available to groups other than the undocumented, following clarifications from the CITF.