'MM vaccine' not required during umrah trip last year, says ex-PM's aide
An aide to Bersatu president Muhyiddin Yassin has refuted claims surrounding the then prime minister's vaccination status during an official visit to Saudi Arabia in March last year.
"Claims by Ustaz Abu Syafiq that Muhyiddin and his delegation did not receive the Covid-19 vaccine while performing the umrah in March last year is not true.
"Muhyiddin and all members of his delegation had received the first (Covid-19) vaccine dose prior to their departure to Saudi Arabia, and their second dose...
An aide to Bersatu president Muhyiddin Yassin has refuted claims surrounding the then prime minister's vaccination status during an official visit to Saudi Arabia in March last year.
"Claims by Ustaz Abu Syafiq that Muhyiddin and his delegation did not receive the Covid-19 vaccine while performing the umrah in March last year is not true.
"Muhyiddin and all members of his delegation had received the first (Covid-19) vaccine dose prior to their departure to Saudi Arabia, and their second dose upon returning home," Muhyiddin's special officer Mohd Naaim Mahmod said.
"Meanwhile, the Meningococcal Meningitis (MM) vaccine was not made mandatory.
"At the time, the governments of Malaysia and Saudi Arabia did not make receiving a full dose of the Covid-19 vaccine or any other vaccine a condition for travellers to Saudi Arabia," Mohd Naaim said in a statement today.
Mohd Naaim was responding to a local preacher, known as Abu Syafiq, who recently made headlines after claiming to have led an umrah group without taking the "MM Vaccine".
Taking to Instagram, Abu Syafiq on Wednesday made references to the "MM Vaccine" and urged authorities to investigate Muhyiddin and his delegation's vaccination status.
This followed his initial statement naming Environment and Water Minister Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man as being among those who allegedly did not receive the "MM Vaccine".
Abu Syafiq at the time was responding to de facto Religious Affairs Minister Idris Ahmad, who had called for an investigation into Abu Syafiq's alleged action of leading an umrah group without being vaccinated.
Abu Syafiq had also clarified that he was referring to the Meningococcal Meningitis vaccine, and not to the Covid-19 vaccine.
Questions surrounding vaccine requirements for umrah pilgrims were highlighted following Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin's statement on Jan 6 that 17 of 122 individuals who tested positive for the Covid-19 Omicron variant had returned from Saudi Arabia but were found to be unvaccinated.
