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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider Malaysia shuts jab center after 200 workers infected

Malaysia shuts jab center after 200 workers infected

Published Jul 13, 2021 04:33 pm

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia --- A Malaysian coronavirus vaccination center was shut down Tuesday after more than 200 workers tested positive for COVID-19, authorities said, as the country's cases set a new daily record.

About 11 percent of the Malaysian population are so far fully vaccinated (Mohd RASFAN AFP / MANILA BULLETIN)

The Southeast Asian nation is battling a serious outbreak driven by highly infectious variants and has been under a strict lockdown since the start of June.

It has ramped up its jab drive by opening mass vaccination sites, and about 11 percent of the population are so far fully vaccinated while almost 25 percent have received a first dose.

But a vaccination center in hard-hit Selangor state was forced to close after 204 staff and volunteers out of 453 there tested positive, said Khairy Jamaluddin, minister in charge of the inoculation drive.

Those infected had low "viral loads" and none had serious symptoms, possibly because most workers at the site in Shah Alam city had been vaccinated, he said.

Four hundred of the workers there had been inoculated, he added, but he did not say which vaccine they had been given. Malaysia is using the Pfizer, AstraZeneca and Sinovac jabs in its rollout.

"This is the first time we've had to shut down a (vaccination center) because of positive cases, but we acted fast," Khairy said, adding it would not hamper the overall program.

The center's closure led to thousands of appointments being rescheduled, but it will re-open Wednesday after sanitization, with new staff.

Despite being under strict curbs for weeks, with only essential businesses allowed to operate, Malaysia's infection rates have remained high. Daily cases hit a new record of 11,079 on Tuesday.

The country of 32 million has so far reported more than 855,000 virus cases, and more than 6,200 deaths.

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