Malaysia's COVID-19 cases cross 100,000 mark

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia reported 1,581 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday (Dec 24), taking the country's total number of infections to more than 100,000.

Four new clusters were detected in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor, health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said in his daily press conference.

Malaysia also reported two more COVID-19 fatalities, taking its death toll to 446 cases.

As of Thursday, Malaysia has reported 100,318 COVID-19 cases.

READ: Malaysia to receive first batch of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine in February

Minister for Science, Technology and Innovation Khairy Jamaluddin said on Wednesday  that Malaysia is in talks to buy 6.4 million doses of Russia's Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine and wants to increase its purchases of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.

The country is also in final discussions with two Chinese vaccine makers and drawing up plans to arrange ultra-cold storage in its tropical heat.

READ: Malaysia PM Muhyiddin to be among the first in country to take COVID-19 vaccine

Malaysia is spending about US$500 million to buy enough vaccine doses to inoculate 26.5 million people, or 82.8 per cent of its population. It has so far got enough doses to inoculate 40 per cent of its people.

Malaysia has purchased 12.8 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine so far, with the first shipment expected to arrive in February.

It has also secured 6.4 million doses of AstraZeneca's vaccine through COVAX.

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