Sinovac vaccine to arrive today, and other news you may have missed

KINI ROUNDUP | Here are key headlines you may have missed, in brief.

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1. Malaysia will receive its first bulk shipment of Sinovac’s Covid-19 vaccine today, just as the number of people who registered for Covid-19 vaccination surpasses one million.

2. As the rollout of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine continues, Health Ministry director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah warned that those who waste vaccines by missing their appointments may be penalised.

3. Ambank’s parent company AMMB Holdings Berhad has reached a RM2.83 billion settlement with the government over the bank’s involvement in the 1MDB scandal. This is on top of a RM53.7 million penalty imposed by Bank Negara.

4. The conditional movement control order (CMCO) in Sarawak has been extended until March 15, while schools in nine districts in the state will not join others in their reopening on March 1 for at least two weeks.

5. MPs on both sides of the political divide expressed concern about the government’s move to increase fines for violating Covid-19 health SOPs, particularly on the issue of double-standards.

6. Activists claim that at least two asylum-seeking children were separated from their families and deported to Myanmar earlier this week, which places them and others in ‘imminent danger’.

7. The single largest party in either the ruling or opposition coalition must play a dominant role in order to create political stability, according to Umno supreme council member Johari Abdul Ghani.

8. Police have questioned PKR president Anwar Ibrahim over a joint statement by the Pakatan Harapan presidential council regarding the emergency.

9. Former education minister Maszlee Malik is threatening to sue Umno Youth chief Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki over the latter's claims that the Pakatan Harapan government had glorified communists in the Form 4 History textbook.

10. A WHO-led expert panel warns that post-Covid syndrome, or ‘long Covid’, affects about one in 10 survivors and would have major social, health, and economic consequences.