KUCHING, Aug 15: The Sarawak government is urged to expedite vaccination for adolescents between the ages of 12 to 17 years old.
In pointing this out, Julian Tan, special assistant to Chong Chieng Jen, said these adolescents should be allowed to ‘walk-in’ to any Covid-19 vaccination centres (PPVs) as long as they are accompanied by their parents or guardian who have taken their second dose of vaccine.
“Currently, the number of people going for vaccination at PPVs reduces. Thus, we should utilise the current capacity and experience gained to immediately implement the programme to get our young ones vaccinated as quickly as possible,” he said in a statement.
Tan noted, such moves can also accommodate any existing plans while helping to reduce the workload and number needed to be vaccinated during the rolling out of the programme in view of the reopening of schools in September and the relaxing of restrictions.
“I laud the high vaccination rate in Sarawak and the government plans to vaccinate the young. However, I also agreed that we should not be complacent.
“While data shows that vaccines are highly effective in preventing severe cases, it underscores the risk that even those vaccinated could be contagious,” he added.
Tan opined, more still needs to be done to reduce transmission, especially to those yet to be vaccinated, especially the children.
He said with almost 29 per cent of Sarawakians consisting of aged 18 years and below, getting vaccinated will further accelerate the State’s effort to combat the pandemic.
“(Sarawak Disaster Management Committee advisor Dato Sri) Dr Sim (Kui Hian) stated on his social media (Aug 13) that “in Sarawak, vaccines are waiting for people and they are only effective when administered into the body, not sitting in the fridge.
“We already have the means, the facilities in place and the experience, so why are we still waiting? In this pandemic time, every single day saved can be life-saving,” he said. — DayakDaily
