Is there a glimmer of light we see at the end of the long, dark tunnel that is 2020?
We saw a tiny speck when the government announced that it had an agreement to get 12.8 million vaccines for COVID-19 from Pfizer a few weeks ago, but the speck seems to be growing larger.
The Health Ministry has announced that the vaccines may start being available from as early as the first quarter of 2021!
OK OK. We know that first-quarter means anytime between January and March, but let us enjoy some happiness for a bit k?
Vaccines will be available in stages
Kita akan mula menerima bekalan dos vaksin #COVID19 pada suku pertama tahun hadapan.
— KKMalaysia?? (@KKMPutrajaya) December 6, 2020
Vaksin ini adalah percuma untuk rakyat dan keutamaan kpd golongan berisiko tinggi.
Sebelum didaftarkan di Malaysia, KKM akan pastikan vaksin ini berkualiti, selamat dan berkesan. @beritartm pic.twitter.com/iHtaEO00zh
The whole world is waiting to get vaccinated, but only a few companies have successfully come up with vaccines that could possibly work against COVID-19.
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We’re not even entirely sure how effective the vaccines are going to be and if the virus will evolve, necessitating multiple jabs in the future etc.
What we do know is that there are vaccines out there that will work for the time being at least.
However, the supply is limited.
The Health Ministry announced that the vaccines would be available in stages – one million in the first quarter, 1.7 million in the second, 5.8 million in the third and 4.7 million in the last quarter of 2021.
Malaysians will be receiving the vaccines for FREE, while foreigners will have to pay an amount set by the government.
Since there are a limited number of vaccines available, priority will be given to those at most risk, such as the elderly and people with existing health conditions.
It is not compulsory to get the vaccine, but why say no to keeping everyone safe kan?
We really hope that this is the beginning of the end of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Till then, let us all continue to mask up, maintain physical distancing and stay home as much as possible.
