Malaysia shuts mass vaccination centre after half of employees test COVID positive

Kuala Lumpur: A mass vaccination centre in Malaysia was shut down by authorities on Tuesday after more than 200 medical staff and volunteers tested positive for the coronavirus. The centre in central Selangor state was shut down after two volunteers contracted the virus initially and later 204 staff also tested positive

Science Minister Khairy Jamaluddin, who is in charge of the national immunization program of the country said that he has already ordered to test all 453 workers who were working at the immunization centre. He added the 204 whose results were positive had low viral loads, meaning the amount of virus in their bodies was small.

While stressing that swift government action had stopped the cluster, Khairy added that it is difficult to determine if the infections occurred at the centre. He also urged people who were vaccinated at the centre from Friday onward to isolate themselves for 10 days in case they develop symptoms.

The centre was shut for deep sanitation and all its workers were being isolated. The Minster further added that a new team of medical workers would join the centre to start working from Wednesday onward.

Despite a strict lockdown since June 1, the pandemic has worsened in Malaysia with total confirmed cases breaching 844,000 and more than 6,200 deaths. But vaccination has picked up pace, with nearly 11% of the population inoculated so far.