Two million Sinovac recipients risk losing fully vaxxed status

An estimated two million people who received the Sinovac vaccine could lose their fully vaccinated status if they fail to get a booster jab within the next seven days.

Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said some 2.09 million people have yet to receive a booster shot ahead of the March 31 deadline.

“According to our projections for the next week, there might be two million Sinovac recipients who are at risk of losing their fully vaccinated status,” he said at a press conference today.

Khairy had previously given numerous reminders for Sinovac recipients and senior citizens to get boosted by March 31, failing which their vaccination status would change to incomplete.

The health ministry initially said that those in these categories would be given until the end of February to receive a booster shot.

However, Khairy announced early this month that the timeframe to obtain a booster dose for both groups had been extended until March 31.

Speaking today, he said he did not expect the uptake of booster jabs to slow during the fasting month.

“I don’t foresee any slowdown during Ramadan as I don’t think anything could be slower than it is now.

“At the moment, the rate is very, very low.”