THURSDAY, March 28, 2024
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Malaysians in S’pore hope vaccinations will ease travel curbs

Malaysians in S’pore hope vaccinations will ease travel curbs

SINGAPORE: A number of Malaysians working in Singapore have started receiving the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.

Some of them shared their experience getting their jabs on the Malaysian-Singapore Border Crossers Facebook page, which has almost 82,000 members.

According to Imra Astata Ibrahim, who works in the marine sector, he had his first injection on Jan 13 and would get the second dose after 21 days.

Imra Astata, 40, who is renting a room in Jurong West here, said he did not hesitate to get the vaccine with 10 of his Malaysian colleagues.

In fact, the father of three has high hopes that by getting vaccinated, it will be easier for him to travel back and forth to Johor.

“Who knows, there will be an understanding between the two countries to facilitate the movement of commuters, namely workers who have received this vaccine, ” he said.

Imra Astata, from Johor, only returned to the republic on Sept 24 last year after strict measures at both borders were introduced in March to curb the Covid-19 pandemic.

Asked if there were any side effects from his vaccination, Imra Astata said before taking it, he and his colleagues had been informed of the possible side effects.

“So far, my friends and I are healthy after getting the jab. Only on the first day did I feel slight numbness and pain at the injection area, ” he said.

The Singapore government has made provisions for all Singaporeans and long-term residents in the republic to get vaccinated by end-2021.

Singapore received the first shipment of Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine on Dec 21 last year.

To ensure accessibility of the vaccine and enable the republic to achieve a higher rate of inoculation for the population, the vaccination will be given free.

According to its Health Ministry, as of Jan 12, more than 6,200 individuals have received their first dose of the vaccine.

These numbers are expected to rise substantially in the coming weeks as it continues to ramp up its vaccination operations, it said.

In line with the recommendations by the Expert Committee on Covid-19 Vaccination to prioritise vaccinations of groups that are most at risk, Singapore has begun vaccinating healthcare workers progressively from Dec 30,2020. — Bernama

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