Putrajaya today announced that all foreign nationals living in Malaysia will be able to get vaccinated against Covid-19 for free, including undocumented migrants.
In a statement, the Covid-19 Vaccine Supply Access Guarantee Committee said that the decision to include foreign nationals in the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme — which will begin at the end of this month — is in line with its campaign theme of ‘Protect Oneself, Protect All’.
“This decision to grant free vaccinations to foreign nationals living in Malaysia was also made because Malaysia’s Covid-19 vaccine supply is more than sufficient and actually exceeds the number of Malaysian citizens who are eligible to receive it,” it said.
It added that the decision also takes into consideration several other factors, such as achieving herd immunity, the number of Covid-19 patients and clusters from foreign workers, the cost of treating patients who were infected by foreign workers, the fact that foreign workers do contribute to the Malaysian economy, as well as taking following the lead of other countries, who have vaccinated Malaysian citizens at zero cost.
However, it said that Malaysian citizens would still be given priority to receive the Covid-19 vaccines and that the schedule and information for non-citizens will be released soon.
He said 80 per cent of the country’s population, or approximately 26.5 people, are expected to receive the vaccines free of charge.
SOURCE: Malay Mail
