Malaysia will start using China's Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine as part of its immunization program on Thursday, according to a technology official.

Malaysia's Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said Monday that he'll be the first to receive the shot.

The country is expecting two batches of Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine shipments, one arriving today and the other one next Monday.

The Sinovac jab got regulatory approval in Malaysia on March 2.

The country started its national immunization program in late February with the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine.