By Adrian Lim
PUTRAJAYA, Feb 17: The government is working out the plan and processes to provide Covid-19 vaccinations to foreigners and foreign workers.
Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said he has asked the Ministry of Home Affairs and Ministry of Human Resources to come up with the implementation plan to reach out to foreigners and foreign workers.
“For foreign workers who are documented, we will be working together with the employers to ensure that the employers can furnish us with the details so that we can make appointments for these documented foreign workers to receive the vaccination efficiently and comfortably.
“For undocumented foreign workers, we will come up with an implementation plan on how we hope to reach out to them.
“We will be reaching out to foreign embassies, international organisations, to civil society organisations, and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to assist us in reaching out to these undocumented foreigners, to bring them out and get them vaccinated with the assurance that we will not be apprehending or detaining them.
“That’s the most important message that we need to send out and they can come forward freely and be confident that the government will vaccinate them and not detain them,” he said during a virtual press conference today
Khairy was responding to a question by a reporter who asked about the vaccination of foreign workers and the criteria for the vaccination.
Khairy, who is also the coordinating minister for the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme (PICK) said Covid-19 vaccinations for foreign workers will be voluntary under PICK.
He added the Ministry of Home Affairs is in the process of working on the implementation plan in consultation with the Covid-19 Immunisation Task Force (CITF).
Earlier, Khairy announced the setting up of CITF to manage the implementation of PICK.
The CITF management would be supervised by two co-directors namely Health Ministry deputy director-general (public health) Datuk Dr Chong Chee Keong and armed forces deputy chief Lt General Datuk Mohammad Ab Rahman.
Khairy explained that the establishment of CITF is to ensure that PICK will be neatly, smoothly and properly implemented to achieve its objectives.
He disclosed that the National Security Council (MKN), Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (Mosti) and the Ministry of Health (MoH) will act as the secretariat for CITF. — DayakDaily
