Welcoming vaccine roll-out in Malaysia, Asean, Asia and beyond

What a big day. Vaccines are here in Malaysia.

I remember 9 November 2020. This was when major news outlets broke the news of the development of Pfizer’s vaccine for Covid. All of us cheered, stock markets rallied and shares of airlines spiked up. In the following months, more pharmaceuticals rolled out the news of their vaccines: Moderna, Oxford-AstraZeneca, Sinovac Biotech, just to name a few. I remember thinking we’re finally out of the woods.

Fast forward three months, just yesterday, we saw the arrival of Covid vaccines in Malaysia to be rolled out starting this week. Not just as someone who’s at the sharp end of this Covid pandemic but as a mortal being, I wholeheartedly welcome the news.

Not just in Malaysia-- our key international markets are also progressing well with the vaccination programme including Indonesia, Singapore, China and Australia, while other regional countries such as Thailand and the Philippines are scheduled to begin their vaccination programme by the first quarter of this year.  

As uncertain and anxiety-inducing this ordeal has been, I can say for a fact that we did not waste this crisis, that this was time well spent for AirAsia. We have spent the travel downtime period implementing rigorous digital initiatives and innovative technologies that would make air travel even safer and more seamless when we fully resume travelling.

Better testing, leisure travel bubbles, anti veil medicines and importantly, digital health passports providing a single tool for health records across Asean and beyond, are also coming soon to support the global travel recovery.

As we’re rolling up our sleeves -- quite literally- to do our part and get vaccinated, I want to address the misinformation that are out there about the vaccines. Due to the spread of misinformation on social media, I understand some of you are wary about the vaccine. Vaccines are one of the most important tools we have in our battle against Covid. Scientists from across the world have worked hard in making vaccines available to us. The vaccine has been certified effective and approved by the National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency (NPRA) of the Ministry of Health.

So let's do our part in fighting this pandemic by getting inoculated. As history has shown us, vaccinations have successfully protected us from many different diseases-- chickenpox, measles, polio-- which used to be more prevalent in the past. Let’s listen to the experts, trust our doctors, and get vaccinated.

This Wednesday, the frontliners are set to get the first vaccination in Malaysia. Don’t judge me if I well up at the sight of the first Covid jab in the country.

Until next time, stay safe everyone.

Lots of love, 

Tony