JOHOR BARU: Overseas travellers including returning Malaysians who have completed their vaccination abroad must verify their certificates with the authorities in the country, says Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Datuk Seri Dr Adham Baba.

       He said this would allow them to get their vaccination certificates from whichever countries they come from verified by Malaysia.

       “Malaysians who have been inoculated in foreign countries, such as Singapore, have to go to the nearest health district offices to inform the personnel of their vaccination status completed overseas.

       “The district health office will then forward the information to the state Health Department to verify the certificates before informing the Crisis Preparedness and Response Centre to issue our own certificates through the MySejahtera application.

       “Regardless of the nationality, we want to, most importantly, confirm whether the vaccination certificates issued abroad are genuine and to find out the types of vaccines received,” he said after visiting the Mount Austin vaccination centre (PPV) here yesterday.

       Dr Adham said the verification of Covid-19 vaccine certificates from abroad was one of the improvements made in the MySejahtera application, apart from the introduction of a check-out button to facilitate the contact tracking.

       He added that individuals who had been vaccinated abroad and were required to enter Malaysia to regenerate the country’s economy would have their vaccination certificates validated by health officials at the country’s entry points.

       On the travel bubble to Langkawi which will start on Sept 16, Dr Adham said health personnel would also be stationed at the island’s resort entry points to facilitate the tracking of tourists who have completed their vaccination.

       “We will also inform them about standard operating procedures they need to follow throughout their stay in Langkawi,” he added.

       On another matter, Dr Adham said the Covid-19 Immunisation Task Force needed to increase the number of mobile PPV to hasten the vaccination process at several states including Johor before the start of the monsoon season.

       He said Johor should have seven more mobile PPV on top of the 13 presently active.

       “Up until Saturday, some 175,360 individuals in this state received their vaccine doses at one of the 13 mobile PPVs with 86,097 of them having completed their doses.

       “Overall, some 261,457 doses had been dispensed through the 13 mobile PPV and if it is increased to 20, more people in Johor, especially those in rural areas can get their vaccines much sooner,” he said.