KUALA LUMPUR, April 1 — Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin today indicated a high possibility of Malaysians being allowed to travel freely domestically once they have completed their two-dose Covid-19 vaccination and been certified so.
The prime minister said the freedom of movement is an encouragement for those who have been vaccinated and given a digital certificate, The Star reported this evening.
“I have discussed this in the NSC meeting. We want to decide if this is the case, those who have received two doses can travel across states and districts,” he was quoted saying at a Shared Prosperity Vision town hall session in Kuching, Sarawak.
The NSC refers to the National Security Council which the PM chairs.
“Boleh ke sana ke sini without being stopped by the authorities,” Muhyiddin was quoted saying.
Currently, interstate travel is still prohibited even though the federal government has shifted into the less restrictive phases of the movement control order (MCO) to bolster economic activity.
However, lawmakers are allowed to do so if the trips are for work purposes.
Nearly half the country is under the conditional MCO, and the remainder is under the recovery MCO.
States under the CMCO until April 14 are Selangor, Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Johor, and Kelantan while it will end two days earlier for Sarawak.
Muhyiddin stressed that free travel is only for those who have been certified to have fully completed their Covid-19 vaccination and not those who have only received the first dose or awaiting certification.
“If you have not been vaccinated and do not have a digital certificate, then you cannot go. But if you have received two doses, then you can fly anywhere,” he was quoted saying.
He added that talks to allow international travel are ongoing.
Earlier today, Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Khairy Jamaluddin told a news conference in Penang that Putrajaya is considering lifting the travel restrictions for those who have taken both doses.
The Health Ministry and the Vaccine Supply Access Guarantee Special Committee will study clinical data and discuss how to enable domestic travel plans for those who have been fully vaccinated at their meeting next week.
“If you have received two doses, you may be allowed some flexibility,” Khairy, the coordinating minister for the national Covid-19 immunisation programme, was quoted saying by news website Free Malaysia Today.
He said this was to encourage more people to sign up for the free vaccination programme since the government is targeting to inoculate 24.2 million people out of Malaysia’s population of 33.7 million people by February 2022 but only 30 per cent or 7.5 million have signed up.
