KUALA LUMPUR: A total of 10,472 doses of the voluntary AstraZeneca Covid-19 was administered on Saturday at three vaccination centres (PPV) in the Klang Valley.
ProtectHealth Corporation Sdn Bhd chief executive officer Dr Anas Alam Faizli said of the total, 8,360 doses of the vaccine were administered at the Kuala Lumpur World Trade Center (WTCKL) PPV.
This, he said, made WTCKL the centre with the capability of carrying out the largest scale vaccination exercise in the country.
Apart from the WTCKL PPV, he said the Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) PPV successfully administered 1,059 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine on Saturday, while the Universiti Malaya (UM) PPV inoculated 1,053 people.
Before this, the WTCKL PPV was only capable of administering about 2,400 doses per day and the UKM and UM PPVs capacity stood at 900 doses being administered per day.
Dr Anas also said additional measures have been taken to ensure a smoother vaccination process at the WTCKL PPV.
"We have additional measures for crowd control. Police would be assisting at the entrance to the PPV AZ WTCKL," he said when contacted.
National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme Coordinating Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said the vaccination process at the centre was much smoother on Sunday with better crowd control.
He also noted that this would better prepare the authorities in managing the soon-to-be-opened Bukit Jalil stadium PPV, which is expected to inoculate over 10,000 people daily.
"PPV AZ WTCKL much smoother today. Better crowd control outside.
"Good learnings for the eventual opening of the country's biggest vaccination centre: PPV Stadium Bukit Jalil which will be able to do > 10k per day," he posted on Twitter.
Khairy, who is Science Technology and Innovation Minister, had on Saturday said prospective vaccine recipients with the status of a person under investigation, a person under surveillance, or close contacts of Covid-19 patients are not allowed to turn up at the PPVs.
Authorities, he said, had found that several individuals with such status were present at PPVs when they should have been at home under quarantine and have their appointments rescheduled instead of posing risk of infecting others.
The Special Committee on Covid-19 Vaccine Supply Access Guarantee (JKJAV), meanwhile, on Twitter reminded vaccine recipients to only be present at the PPV 15 to 30 minutes before their appointments.
"Observe the SOP at all times. No walk-ins are allowed at any of the PPVs in the country, hence do not visit without appointments.
"And do not come for your appointments if you are unwell," it wrote.
The government had opened opt-in bookings for the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine on May 2 for eligible individuals as well as those over the age of 18. The vaccination exercise for voluntary applicants began on May 5.
On May 15, Khairy announced that one million more doses of AstraZeneca vaccination will be opened for opt-in registration in May.