KUALA LUMPUR, Mar 18 — Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Khairy Jamaluddin was the first person in Malaysia to receive the Sinovac vaccine on Thursday (March 18) as the country begins its roll-out of the China-made Covid-19 jab.

Following his inoculation, Mr Khairy announced in Mandarin that the vaccine was safe, as were others approved for use in Malaysia.

In a 24-second video posted on Twitter, Mr Khairy joked that the Sinovac vaccine has also improved his command of Mandarin.

“I feel good. No matter what kind of vaccine it is, it is safe. Let us defeat the virus together. Protect yourself, protect everyone!” he said.

In a Facebook post, Mr Khairy wrote: “People don't have to doubt the Sinovac vaccine. This vaccine has been proven safe and effective in preventing Covid-19 diseases and has been used in 27 countries such as China, UAE, Indonesia, Turkey and Brazil involving over 60 million doses.”

Malaysia commenced its national Covid-19 inoculation programme on February 24, using the vaccine manufactured by American pharmaceutical corporation Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech.

Mr Khairy had previously said that with other Malaysian leaders having received the Pfizer- BioNTech vaccine, he would wait for other Covid-19 vaccine brands before being inoculated.

He felt that there could be doubts about the efficacy of other brands that would be rolled out and hoped to build confidence among members of the public.

On February 27 the final batch of the Sinovac vaccine supply arrived in the country, where it will be processed by domestic pharmaceutical corporation Pharmaniaga LifeScience Sdn Bhd in bulk.

Subsequently on March 2, Putrajaya granted conditional approval to Sinovac along with the vaccine from UK firm AstraZeneca. AGENCIES