By Lian Cheng and Karen Bong
KUCHING, Feb 24: The 23,400 Pfizer doses which arrived today will be sent to storages centres in Kuching and Sibu tomorrow and be distributed to other vaccination centres across Sarawak on Friday (Feb 26).
This is disclosed by Sarawak Health Director Dr Chin Zin Hing at a press conference held the Kuching International Airport, upon the arrival of the vaccines at 6.18pm today.
“For today’s shipment, tomorrow, they will be sent to vaccine storage centres in Kuching and Sibu.
“Then the day after the next (Friday), from these storage centres, they will be sent to vaccination centres that we have in Kuching Division, Samarahan Division, Serian (Division), Sri Aman (Division), Sarikei (Division), Sibu (Division), Kapit (Division) and Mukah (Division).
“The (Health authorities in the) Divisions, once they receive the vaccines, they will start the vaccination for the frontliners,” said Dr Chin.
There are in total 53 vaccination centres identified for the purpose to administer the vaccines to the frontliners.
According to Dr Chin, the second shipment containing 31,590 doses are expected to reach Sarawak on Mar 2.
Following that, the third and fourth shipment which carry 4,680 doses each will arrive on Mar 10 and Mar 17 respectively.
The fifth shipment is scheduled to arrive on Mar 24 with 14,040 doses while the fifth shipment which is expected to arrive on Mar 31, carries with it 9,360 doses.
Dr Chin said the first phase of vaccination which involves 97,161 frontliners will start on this Friday (Feb 26) until Mar 31.
“Where as for Phase 2 and Phase 3, we will start on April 1, and we plan to finish it by Aug 31,” said Dr Chin.
For Phase 2, the health authorities will cover the elderly (those 60 years of age and above) and the high risk group – those with comorbid conditions or other illnesses, which Dr Chin estimated to be amounting to more than 900,000.
The third phase will involve another 900,000 who are above 18 and not within the categories of Phase 1 and Phase 2.
Also present at the press conference were State Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) chairman Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas, Local Government and Housing Minister Dato Sri Dr Sim Kui Hian and Sarawak Police Commissioner Datuk Aidi Ismail.— DayakDaily
