Pressing ahead with its immunization drive, Malaysia started administering COVID-19 vaccine doses made by Chinese biopharmaceutical company Sinovac Biotech on Thursday.

Malaysia's Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Khairy Jamaluddin became the first recipient of Sinovac's CoronaVac vaccine in the country, receiving the jab at Rembau Hospital in Negeri Sembilan state.

Khairy told a press conference that he felt well after getting the shot.

The minister stressed that the Sinovac vaccine had been used in many countries and state leaders, including Indonesian President Joko Widodo and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. 

"This proves that many other countries recognized the safety, efficacy and stability of the vaccine for use and to be administered to their people," he said.

He noted that the Sinovac vaccine passed the requirements of Malaysia's National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency (NPRA) and encouraged the public to participate in the national immunization program.

"So, I want to tell the Malaysians that if you get your appointment and you go to your vaccination center and that the vaccination center is giving you the Sinovac vaccine, please take it. It's a safe and good vaccine," he said. 

Malaysia received a batch of finished Sinovac vaccine doses from China on Monday after Malaysia's regulators gave the vaccine conditional approval. Another shipment is expected later this month.

The Sinovac vaccine is the second COVID-19 vaccine for use in Malaysia after the  Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.

The Malaysian government has planned to inoculate at least 80 percent of its over 31 million people in the national immunization program that started in February, with 20 percent of the population expected to receive the Sinovac vaccine.

According to the plan, Malaysia's vaccination program will be conducted in three phases, with the first phase for frontline workers covering about half a million people, the second phase for high-risk groups and the third phase for adults aged 18 and above.

The Southeast Asian country reported 1,219 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, bringing its total tally to 327,253, with 1,220 deaths.