Malaysia declared AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine optional due to safety concerns

Malaysia will launch a parallel Covid-19 inoculation programme this week for people who want to receive the AstraZeneca vaccine after it was excluded from an ongoing rollout due to public concerns about its safety, according to a minister on Monday.

Reports of potential ties to extremely rare blood clots have harmed confidence in the vaccine in Malaysia and elsewhere.

AstraZeneca has cited regulator guidelines as proof that the vaccine is safe and reliable, though some countries have suspended its use due to growing concern or limited its use to certain age groups. Malaysia, which received the first 268,000 AstraZeneca vaccine doses in April, announced that the vaccine would be administered on a first-come, first-served basis.

According to Science Minister Khairy Jamaludin, the decision was made after approximately 8,000 people cancelled online vaccination registrations following the government's announcement that the shot would be included in the nationwide rollout. Data also showed increased vaccine apprehension, with some people failing to show up for appointments after AstraZeneca was added, he said.

"The increasing number of cancellations resulted in (authorities) deciding that we should carve out AstraZeneca from the conventional national immunisation programme," Khairy said. He said slots for 268,000 doses were filled in three hours after bookings opened on Sunday, and that the programme, which begins on Wednesday, will be extended as more doses arrived.

Malaysia is scheduled to receive 12.8 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, with the next shipment of 1.1 million doses arriving this month. According to Khairy, authorities have also agreed to restrict the use of the vaccine produced by China's Sinovac Biotech to those aged 60 and up. Further, Malaysia is witnessing an increase in coronavirus cases, with over 415,000 infections registered.

Additionally, Health Minister Adham Baba recorded a significant rise in COVID-19 patients experiencing acute symptoms, likely as a result of new strains.

Malaysia announced the first case of a variant first detected in India on Sunday, which experts believe could have mutations that make it more transmissible, cause more serious disease, or avoid vaccine immunity.

As of 1st May, the government had identified 48 cases of the South African variant and eight cases of the British variant.