By Karen Bong
KUCHING, Feb 24: Minister for Local Government and Housing Datuk Seri Dr Sim Kui Hian is calling for collaboration from all Sarawakians to ensure the success of the Sarawak’s Covid-19 vaccination programme aimed to vaccinate 2.2 million people or 70 per cent of the population in order to achieve herd immunity.
He shared that around 230 million vaccine doses have been administered worldwide and that the side effects were minimal.
“So people should not listen to rumours or hearsays and become afraid of getting vaccinated.
“If you don’t get vaccinated and get infected, our healthcare system cannot cope with the sharp increase in a number of cases,” he told media after witnessing the arrival of the first consignment of Pfizer-BioNTech ultra-cold vaccines at the Raya Airways’ Cargo Warehouse in Kuching International Airport here this evening.
Dr Sim, who is State Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) advisor, added that following the vaccine rollout in the United Kingdom (UK), the number of positive cases as well as Covid-19 fatalities have dropped.
“Prior to the rollout of the vaccine, the hospitals in the UK did not even have enough beds for patients.
“So this (vaccination) is so important and we hope everyone will cooperate with us,” he urged.
Dr Sim emphasised that the state was about to roll out one of its biggest vaccination operations which was to vaccinate 2.2 million people in Sarawak from city to rural and the interior by August this year.
“Given that 2.2 million people will need to be vaccinated twice, it means we will need 4.4 million doses of vaccine. It is a huge task so we need the cooperation from the people,” he said.
The State government, he pointed out, has a few plans for the vaccine rollout across Sarawak in which they were communicating and working closely with the Ministry of Health (MOH) to meet the needs and timeline of the State’s vaccination programme as situations evolved.
While currently, Malaysia has only approved the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine produced by Belgium, Dr Sim however said that the health authority will study and analyse other vaccines to be approved and released in the near future.
“A year ago, we did not expect the coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan will impact the entire world.
“So all these experiences are very valuable to prepare Sarawak to face any unprecedented health crisis in the future,” he added.
Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas, State Secretary Datuk Amar Jaul Samion and State Health director Dr Chin Zin Hing were among those present. – DayakDaily
