Putrajaya is mulling allowing Malaysians who have received two doses of their COVID-19 vaccinations, to travel interstate, and overseas.

Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said however, those who have completed their vaccinations and wanting to travel, will have present their digital vaccination certificate to the authorities.

"Earlier, there were views that those who have been vaccinated may be protected from infection but could be a potential carrier of the virus. Now this has been found to be not true.

"If this is the case, we want to decide that those who have received two doses can travel across states, districts and divisions as normal, without being stopped by the authorities," The Star quoted saying at a townhall session in Kuching, Sarawak, yesterday.

According to Muhyiddin, the decision was arrived at following a discussion with the National Security Council.

The premier added that Putrajaya is also in the midst of talks with several countries, including Japan, China, Hong Kong, and Indonesia, to allow international travel for Malaysians who have received their two doses of vaccinations.

Meanwhile, the daily also quoted National COVID-19 Immunization Programme coordinating minister Khairy Jamaluddin saying that so far, only about 7.5 million, or 30 percent of the targeted 24.2 million people, have registered to receive their vaccinations.

Thus, easing of restrictions for vaccinated Malaysians is among measures to encourage more people to register, he said.

"In the future, if you have received two doses, you may be given certain allowances," he told reporters in Penang yesterday.

Khairy further noted that more vaccination centres will be set up across the country, the more the people register.

The country's first phase of immunization saw about 500,000 frontliners vaccinated. The second phase of the programme, involving senior citizens and those with chronic illnesses, is set to kick off on Apr 19 - earlier tha originally scheduled.

The thirs group, involving some 13.7 million citizens and non-citizens aged 18 and above, are set to receive their jabs from May this year to February next year.

As of yesterday, there have been a total of 346,678 confirmed COVID-19 cases in the country, with 1,278 deaths.

Globally, the coronavirus has infected more than 130 million people, and killed over 2.83 million.


Source: The Star
Photo source: Rojakdaily