KUCHING, June 19: Sarawak could possibly attain 80 per cent herd immunity by Aug 21 if China’s single-dose CanSino Biologics Covid-19 vaccine can be made available promptly.
Deputy Chief Minister Tan Sri Dr James Jemut Masing emphasised that the CanSino vaccine will be a big boost to speed up Sarawak’s vaccination journey, especially to cover the State’s population in the vast interior areas.
“The CanSino single-dose vaccine is perfect for the interior population in Sarawak once it is approved by the WHO (World Health Organisation) and FDA (Food Drug Administration),” he said in a statement today.
Masing, who is also Minister of Infrastructure and Port Development, hopes that Sarawak’s request for the CanSino vaccine will be given urgent consideration by the Federal government.
“If the single-dose vaccine is approved by Putrajaya for Sarawak’s use and the number of required vaccines reach Sarawak, we may be able to achieve 80 per cent herd immunity by Aug 21,” he observed.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health (MOH) on June 15 announced that the Drug Control Authority (DCA) Malaysia has given conditional approval for CanSino and US’ Johnson & Johnson (J&J) Covid-19 vaccines for emergency use in Malaysia.
The DCA Malaysia had also approved the usage of the Pfizer-BionTech vaccine for children aged 12 year old and above.
MOH director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah emphasised that the priority for the rollout of the additional vaccines will still be for high-risk groups in line with the existing policy set under the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme (NCIP). — DayakDaily
