KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia achieved a significant milestone in Covid-19 vaccination after 90% of adolescents received at least one dose of the vaccine, says Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin.

       "For seniors, get your booster as soon as it’s available,” he said in a Twitter post on Monday (Dec 6).

       A total of 2,830,449 individuals or 90% of adolescents aged between 12 and 17 had received one dose of the Covid-19 vaccine as of 11.59pm on Sunday (Dec 5).

       Based on the Health Ministry’s data on the CovidNow portal, 2,721,784 individuals or 86.5% of the adolescent population have completed their vaccination.

       As for the adult population, a total of 22,722,055 individuals or 97.1% have completed their vaccination, while 23,049,440 individuals or 98.5% have received at least one dose of the vaccine.

       A total of 54,517 doses of the vaccine were dispensed yesterday, involving 1,713 as the first dose, 2,605 (second dose) and 50,199 (booster dose).

       This brings the cumulative number of vaccine doses administered under the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme (PICK) to 54,091,375.

       In another tweet, Khairy said the infectivity rate (Rt) in Malaysia was increasing and reminded the public to ensure compliance with Covid-19 prevention standard operating procedures (SOP) and always practise TRISS, namely Test, Report, Inform, Isolate and Seek.

       "Rt is nearing 1.0 again. Two weeks ago when it exceeded 1, all of us played our role to bring down the Rt. Believe that we can. Face masks, physical distancing, avoid congested places, booster shots, protect your parents and #TRIIS,” he said. - Bernama