Malaysia buys more vaccine to accelerate virus inoculations

Malaysia has procured more vaccines and aims to accelerate inoculations starting next month as the government struggles to contain a worsening coronavirus crisis

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia -- Malaysia has procured more vaccines and aims to accelerate inoculations starting next month, a Cabinet minister said Thursday, as the government struggles to contain a worsening coronavirus crisis. Science Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said the government has bought an additional 12.8 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine, bringing the total to 44.8 million doses, enough to cover 70% of Malaysia’s population. Over 11 million people, or about a third of the population, have registered for vaccinations but only 1.7 million have received at least one dose. Khairy said the vaccines will be delivered over the next few months, allowing the government to increase inoculations to 150,000 a day starting in June.