KUALA LUMPUR, May 31 — National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme (CITF) Coordinating Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said attendance at Covid-19 vaccination centres (PPV) by appointees remains at around 80 per cent.

He said registration by the rakyat to get vaccinated has seen a sharp upswing, due to the increasing number of cases.

“The rakyat’s awareness of being vaccinated as a form of protection has become crucial, which means we can increase the number of inoculations due to this awareness,” Khairy said during a CITF press conference with Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Adham Baba.

He added the matter was brought up during discussions between Dr Adham and the state-level CITFs.

“As for the remaining 20 per cent of scheduled individuals who were absent on the day of their appointments, the reasons given for not attending varied.

“Some say they had no transportation in which to use to come to the PPVs, others said they arrived much later than their intended appointment time, among others,” Khairy said.

As a result, the CITF is planning on the district and state level on how best to manage the available vaccines so as to avoid any wastage.

“We will send the list of individuals slated to undergo their vaccinations earlier, to the respective states and districts, so that they can be contacted in advance,” he said.

When asked if individuals absent from their vaccination appointments should be penalised or fined, Khairy said he felt it is not necessary at the moment.

“On compounds, I feel for now we should continue to reach out to these individuals and engage them, telling them to come.

“Compounds and fines should only be used as a last resort, so it is better to reach out, contact, and engage them,” he said.

As of yesterday the total number of Covid-19 vaccinations in Malaysia is approximately 2,913,009 doses, with 61,461 administered yesterday alone.

Of this number, 1,860,864 received their first dose, while the remaining 1,052,145 received their second dose.