The National COVID-19 Immunisation Programme (Malay: Program Imunisasi COVID-19 Kebangsaan), abbreviated as NIP or PICK, was a national vaccination campaign implemented by the Malaysian government to curb the spread of COVID-19 and to end the COVID-19 pandemic in Malaysia by achieving the highest possible immunisation rate among its citizens and non-citizens residing in the country. It was the largest immunisation programme in the history of Malaysia and was administered by the Special Committee for Ensuring Access to COVID-19 Vaccine Supply (JKJAV) starting in early 2021.
Although it ran smoothly for the most part, the programme faced numerous controversies and issues. These included a slow vaccine rollout due to a lack of vaccine supplies, although the Malaysian government had purchased more than enough for the population. There were also concerns about poor prioritization of vaccine recipients, logistical problems with the MySejahtera's digital vaccination appointment and certificate system, misinformation about vaccines, outbreaks, overcrowding at vaccination centres, and reports of poor treatment of foreign workers by volunteers and authorities. Videos of recipients receiving empty shots also surfaced, which the government attributed to human error caused by the fatigue of vaccinators. Additionally, there were unverified rumours of vaccine spots being sold by volunteers.
A whole-of-government and whole-of-society approach was adopted to assist the programme, involving several ministries and government agencies, state governments, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), the private sector, and members of the community to ensure that the programme achieved its target. Khairy Jamaluddin, who was also Malaysia's Science, Technology and Innovation Minister (MOSTI), was appointed as the Coordinating Minister for the National COVID-19 Immunisation Programme after being approved by the Malaysian Cabinet. He served in this role until his resignation on 16 August 2021.
The immunisation programme was implemented in phases from 24 February 2021 to February 2022, starting with Phase 1, which targeted healthcare workers and frontliners. Then Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin became the first individual in Malaysia to receive the Pfizer–BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, in a broadcast that was aired live nationwide. As of the third week of September 2021, Malaysia averaged about 244,588 doses administered each day. At that rate, it was estimated that it would take an additional 27 days to administer enough doses for another 10% of the population.
According to the State of Mobile 2022 report, Malaysia's MySejahtera app ranked first in the world for install penetration rate and open rate among the Top COVID-19 Apps by Downloads Worldwide in 2021.
Committees in charge
The Special Committee for Ensuring Access to COVID-19 Vaccine Supply The Special Committee for Ensuring Access to COVID-19 Vaccine Supply, also known as the Special Committee on COVID-19 Vaccine Supply (Malay: Jawatankuasa Khas Jaminan Akses Bekalan Vaksin COVID-19; abbreviation: JKJAV), was a government body established to ensure the procurement of COVID-19 vaccine supplies for the country proceeded smoothly and orderly. It was co-chaired by the Malaysian Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation. The members of the committee included representatives from the Ministry of Finance Malaysia, Ministry of International Trade and Industry, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of Communications and Multimedia, National Security Council (MKN), Attorney General's Chambers and the Prime Minister's Special Advisor on Public Health, as outlined in the governance structure for the national vaccination programme.
COVID-19 Immunisation Task Force The COVID-19 Immunisation Task Force, or CITF (Malay: Jawatankuasa Petugas Khas Imunisasi COVID-19), was a committee established based on a decision made during a cabinet meeting held on 20 January 2021 by the Government of Malaysia to ensure that the distribution of vaccines was done flawlessly. Initially led by Khairy Jamaluddin, who was the Coordinating Minister for the National COVID-19 Immunisation Programme, it acted as the coordinating committee for the monitoring framework as well as the overall strategy to support the implementation of the National COVID-19 Immunisation Programme (PICK). The main tasks of the CITF were to plan, implement, and monitor the supply and distribution of vaccines; manage vaccination enrollment; prepare vaccine storage centres and vaccination centres; report on vaccination key performance indicators (KPIs); and handle risk management throughout the implementation of the immunisation programme.
COVID-19 Immunisation Task Force–Adolescent On 15 September 2021, the COVID-19 Immunisation Task Force-Adolescent (CITF-A) was formed under the Ministry of Health to achieve full vaccination for 80% of Malaysians aged 12 to 17 years before the reopening of schools. CITF-A, chaired by Deputy Health Minister Noor Azmi Ghazali, was tasked with overseeing the National COVID-19 Immunisation Programme for Adolescents (PICK Adolescents), which was conducted through a scheduled walk-in process starting from 23 September 2021 onwards. The initiative also targeted students in the private education sector, adolescents in protection and rehabilitation programs, as well as refugee communities, the homeless, and non-citizens in Malaysia.
Vaccines on order + Vaccine Type Via vaccine manufacturer Via COVAX Facility Approval Deployment Pfizer/BioNTech mRNA 44.8million — Oxford/AstraZeneca Viralvector 12.8million 1.39million Sinovac Inactivated 12.4million — CanSinoBIO Viralvector 3.5million — Janssen Viralvector — N/A Sputnik V Viralvector 6.4million — Novavax Subunit — N/A
Vaccines in trial stage
+Vaccine candidates, developers and sponsorsType (technology)Phase IPhase IIPhase III RefZF2001Anhui Zhifei Longcom and Chinese Academy of SciencesSubunit Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences COVID-19 vaccineChinese Academy of Medical SciencesInactivated KCONVACShenzhen Kangtai Biological ProductsInactivated UnnamedUniversiti Putra Malaysia and Institute of Medical Research MalaysiamRNAPreclinicalN/AN/A
Phases of the immunisation program FlowTarget groupEstimated numberDurationPhase 1Healthcare workers and frontliners, including essential services personnel, defence personnel, and security personnel.500,000+ individuals26 February 2021 – April 2021Phase 2High-risk groups, including individuals with disabilities, senior citizens, and people with comorbidities.9.4 million+ individualsApril – August 2021Phase 3Adults aged 18 and above, including citizens and non-citizens.13.7 million+ individualsMay 2021 – February 2022Phase 4Workers in critical industries, including food, manufacturing, construction, retail, plantation, and hospitality.7 million+ individuals14 June 2021 onwardsPhase 5Adolescents aged 12 to 17 with underlying medical conditions.3.2 million+ individuals8 September 2021 onwardsAdolescents aged 12 to 17 without medical conditions, based on age de-escalation.20 September – present
History 2020 In mid-March 2020, Malaysian Vaccines and Pharmaceuticals (MVP) Sdn Bhd reportedly pleaded for cooperation and support from the federal government, with its executive director claiming that their company faced multiple postponed meetings in an attempt to meet the health minister to request a sample from the Institute of Medical Research (IMR) of Malaysia. The IMR was set to begin testing existing local vaccines in collaboration with the MVP and the University of Malaya's Tropical Infectious Diseases Research and Education Centre (TIDREC) by 25 March. The local vaccine testing will be conducted in UM's TIDREC laboratory, which is one of Malaysia's modular biosafety level 3 (BSL3) facilities previously used to study highly pathogenic agents such as MERS coronavirus and Nipah virus with the vaccines to be firstly tested on the infectious bronchitis virus (IBV), which is an avian coronavirus, as previous research shows that the IBV in poultry has high genetic similarity with SARS-CoV-2.
On 6 October, the engineering company Bintai Kinden entered into a distribution and licensing agreement (DLA) with the American–based firm Generex Biotechnology Corp and its subsidiary NuGenerex Immuno-Oncology Inc to distribute their COVID-19 vaccine in Malaysia through its subsidiary Bintai Healthcare. The company will also have the first right of refusal to commercially exploit the vaccine within Australia, New Zealand and the global halal market.
On 18 November, the Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation Khairy Jamaluddin signed an agreement with Chinese Science and Technology Minister Wang Zhigang for Malaysia to be given priority access to COVID-19 vaccines developed in China.
On 19 December, Health Minister Adham Baba confirmed that the Malaysian Government would be concluding an agreement with British pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca to purchase COVID-19 vaccines on 21 December 2020. This is the third agreement that the Malaysian Government had concluded with vaccine suppliers including COVAX and Pfizer to address the country's vaccine needs.
On 22 December, the Malaysian Government signed an agreement with AstraZeneca to obtain an additional 6.4 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines, which account for 10% of the country's vaccine supply. Prime Minister Muhyiddin confirmed that Malaysia had secured 40% of its vaccine supply through joint agreements with COVAX, Pfizer, and AstraZeneca.
2021 January On 11 January 2021, the Health Ministry ordered an additional 12.2 million doses of the Pfizer–BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine in response to rising cases and the tightening of lockdown measures.
On 26 January, the Health Ministry signed an agreement with local pharmaceutical companies Pharmaniaga Berhad and Duopharma to obtain 18.4 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines from China and Russia for distribution in Malaysia.
On 27 January, Health Minister Dr. Adham Baba confirmed that launch of Malaysia's first COVID-19 vaccine trial. This vaccine trial involves the Phase 3 clinical trial of the COVID-19 vaccine developed by the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences' Institute of Medical Biology.
February On 2 February, the Director-General of Health Noor Hisham Abdullah announced that Malaysia would receive its first batch of the Pfizer–BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine on 26 February 2021, which will be distributed nationwide over a period of two weeks.
On 4 February, minister of MOSTI, Khairy Jamaluddin was appointed as the Coordinating Minister for National COVID-19 Immunisation Programme who led the Special Task Force to manage the implementation of the vaccination program.
On 11 February, the Special Committee on Ensuring Access to COVID-19 Vaccine Supply announced that COVID-19 vaccines would be distributed freely to both Malaysians and foreigners residing in Malaysia. However, Malaysian nationals will receive priority.
On 16 February, the Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation Khairy Jamaluddin confirmed that a MASKargo plane will transport the first shipment of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines to Malaysia on 21 February.
On 23 February, Coordinating Minister for National COVID-19 Immunisation Programme Khairy Jamaluddin confirmed that it would receive its second batch of 182,520 doses of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines the following day. These will be distributed to states that have not yet received the vaccine.
By 26 February, the Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Khairy Jamaluddin confirmed that a million people had registered for COVID-19 vaccines via the MySejahtera app.
March On 4 March 2021, the Special Committee on Ensuring Access to COVID-19 Vaccine Supply (JKJAV) confirmed that 80,336 Malaysians had received their first COVID-19 vaccine dose.