Employers in Selangor can now buy COVID-19 vaccine for their staff through the SELangkah app in an initiative by the Selangor government. The initiative is called the Selgate Covid-19 Vaccination Programme, and here’s more information on how you can register your employees for it upon getting their consent.
What Is The Vaccine That Will Be Given?
Registered employees and employers will be getting the Sinovac vaccine via this programme. Sinovac is produced by China’s Sinovac Biotech, and is often compared to Britain’s AstraZeneca, which is currently being rolled out in Malaysia as well in a bid to speed up our immunisation efforts.
However, both work in different ways. Here’s a brief overview of their differences.
| Sinovac | AstraZeneca | |
| Produced by | China’s Sinovac Biotech | Britain’s University of Oxford and AstraZeneca |
| Effectiveness | 56-65% (according to a trial in Chile) | 76% (according to trials in the US) |
| Dosage | 2 doses, 21 days apart | 2 doses, 28 days apart |
| Type | Uses inactivated particles of the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19 to create an immune response | Chimpanzee adenovirus that carries spike proteins from the coronavirus into your body to create an immune response |
| Potential side effects | – Injection site pain and soreness – Fatigue (rare) – Diarrhea (rare) – Muscle weakness (rare) | – Injection site pain – Fevers / Chills – Headaches – Inflammation around the spinal cord (rare) – Hemolytic anemia (rare) |
Do note that as of now, receiving the AstraZeneca and Sinovac vaccines is not advisable for pregnant and breastfeeding mothers. At the moment, only the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is suitable for such recipients.
As the vaccines are still new, their effectiveness is still being extensively trialed and thus there is no certainty that one is better than the other. In the end, getting a vaccine is better than not being vaccinated at all.
How Do I Sign My Staff Up For It?
You can register your company for it via the SELangkah app (on Apple’s App Store here, or Play Store here) or on the Selangkah VAX website here.
This initiative is being facilitated by Selgate Corporation, a conglomerate in the healthcare industry covering healthcare management, hospitals and clinics. It’s a wholly owned subsidiary of Perbadanan Kemajuan Negeri Selangor (PKNS).
According to news sources, it’s open to companies in Selangor, but we found that companies registered in Kuala Lumpur were also able to sign up for the programme. However, it is uncertain if Selangor companies will be prioritised first for the vaccine dates, or whether or not it matters.
How Much Does It Cost?
As of the morning of May 18, we clarified the cost of a single Sinovac shot over a call to Selgate Corporation directly. We were told that the price is currently RM190 per shot, making it RM380 per pax for the 2 required doses.
Upon successful registration, it is mentioned that a quotation will be sent via email within the next 3 working days.
How Do I Make Payment For It?
After registering online, you will get an invoice from SELCARE Clinic. A 50% deposit is required to confirm your booking. After that, the payment for the remaining 50% must be made at least 14 days before the vaccination date. Your company staff must also input their details on SELangkah before their vaccination.
How Do I Know I’ve Successfully Registered?
Earlier in the day on May 18, the SELangkah app faced issues upon opening up registrations. No booking IDs were given after employers registered their companies.
For those who faced this issue, it means your registration wasn’t confirmed, and you’ll need to register again and make sure you get a booking ID as confirmation.
At the time of writing, however, this issue appears to have been resolved.
When Will We Get The Vaccination?
Once your deposit has been processed, vaccination appointments will be set and you’ll be informed of it. The vaccinations will either be conducted at your company office (for companies with more than 1,500 staff) or at an assigned panel clinic (for companies with less than 1,500 staff).
After the first dose, you’ll be informed of your second dose appointment. Upon getting your second dose, you can then access your vaccine certificate via the SELangkah app or website.
Just this month, we received over 290k vials of the Sinovac vaccine, and their usage has already been rolled out at vaccination centres (PPV) nationwide.
With this timeline, it’s likely that the earliest that registered companies can get the Sinovac shot will be in June as the Selgate Covid-19 Vaccination Programme commences. However, this is speculation at the moment, with no confirmed dates set thus far.
How Will This Clash With My Registration Through MySejahtera?
There’s currently no available information online that gives an answer to what will happen with our MySejahtera vaccination registrations if our SELangkah vaccinations happen first.
Vulcan Post has been trying to call Selgate Corporation to clarify this with no success yet, but once we get an answer, we’ll be updating this piece.
In any case, it’s recommended that you get whichever vaccine that’s available earliest first, so long as you’re eligible for it. Mass vaccination will be needed to achieve herd immunity and slow down COVID-19 infections and fatalities across the nation and globally.
For many of us who aren’t part of Phase 1 or 2 of the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme, our MySejahtera apps probably still don’t even state our eligibility for the vaccination. Furthermore, it’s been reported that Phase 3 (for the remaining population aged 18 and above) may have its commencement delayed.
How Do I Get More Information On This Programme?
You can check out the Selangkah VAX site, although there is no separate FAQ that provides more information other than what we’ve outlined thus far.
Alternatively, there are a few ways that you can contact SELCARE to learn more:
- Hotline: 1-800-22-6600
- Email: vax@selangkah.my
- WhatsApp: +6013 4460366
Editor’s Update: Information in the above paragraph has been amended to reflect greater accuracy.
Editor’s Update 25/05/21 [10:55AM]: Our company received an email on the morning of May 22 (5 days after registering on May 18) informing us that SELangkah had received our registration and is processing it, but we have yet to receive a quotation from them.
- You can learn more about the Selgate Covid-19 Vaccination Programme here.
- You can read more of our COVID-19 vaccine-related articles here.
Featured Image Credit: Vulcan Post