Malaysia shuts vaccination centre after 200 workers test Covid positive

Reuters | Published: July 13, 2021 14:56:24 | Updated: July 14, 2021 13:25:27

A construction worker receives a dose of the Sinovac vaccine against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in a vaccination truck in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on June 8, 2021 — Reuters/Files

A Covid-19 vaccination centre in Malaysia was ordered to close for sanitisation on Tuesday after more than 200 volunteers and workers there tested positive over the weekend, the country's science minister said.

Those inoculated from July 9-12 at the centre, about 25 km (15.5 miles) outside Kuala Lumpur, are advised to self-isolate for 10 days, Minister Khairy Jamaluddin told reporters.

The facility has a capacity of about 3,000 doses daily. Of the 453 workers and volunteers screened, 204 tested positive, Khairy said.

The incident comes as Malaysia struggles to contain its biggest outbreak yet, with record deaths and cases amid a ramping up of its vaccination programme and stricter lockdown measures over the past month.

At 844,870 cases overall, Malaysia has one of Southeast Asia's highest per-capita infection rates, but also one of its highest rates of inoculation, with 25 per cent of its 32 million population having received at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine.

The centre will resume vaccinations on Wednesday after sanitisation and a change in staffing, Khairy added.