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KUALA LUMPUR: A recommendation has been made to the government to proceed with the heterologous vaccination plan or the use of a vaccine different from the original vaccine received by an individual, through the administration of booster doses starting this month.

Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said the recommendation was made by the Technical Sub-Committee chaired by the Director of the Institute of Clinical Research, National Institute of Health (NIH), Dr Kalaiarasu M. Peariasamy to the Covid-19 Vaccine Supply Access Guarantee Special Committee (JKJAV) at a meeting last week.

“A study on the safety (of heterologous vaccination) has already been implemented and it is recommended that we continue with our heterologous vaccination programme,” he said in reply to Datuk Azizah Mohd Dun (Bersatu-Beaufort) in the Dewan Rakyat today.

Prior to this, the government had considered the method of mixing two vaccines as part of the implementation of the National Covid-19 Immunisation Program (PICK) to increase antibody neutralisation and the effectiveness of the vaccines as done by many other countries.

Sarawak had also begun giving a booster dose of Covid-19 vaccine this month, making it the first state to kick off the initiative with a focus on high-risk groups aged 60 and above, as well as those with serious comorbidities.