By Nur Ashikin Louis
KUCHING, Sept 26: Sarawak will administer Covid-19 booster shots to high risk groups in October 2021, said Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin.
He said the vaccination programme will involve those aged 60 and above as well as those with serious comorbidities.
“These groups are the ones who are facing serious symptoms in hospitals. Most of the Covid-19 fatalities have also come from the same groups.
“Therefore, we will roll out the booster shots in October once we have prepared the clinical guidelines.
“Subsequently, Sarawak will be one of the first States to start the booster dose programme because they are one of the first to finish the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme (Pick),” he said at a press conference after attending a special meeting on immunisation and pandemic management at Wisma Bapa Malaysia here today.
Asked on the type of vaccine that will be used for the booster dose programme, Khairy said it is still being evaluated.
“We are still evaluating whether we will use the same vaccine or various types of vaccine. However, everything will be ready very soon,” he added.
He also disclosed that the government will only focus on administering the booster shots to high risk groups, adding that no other country has approved booster shots for the general population yet. Even the United States of America, he said, only administered the shots to those aged 65 and above.
“We do not rule out the possibility that those below age 60 will also receive booster shots later but for now, we will only focus on the high risk groups because we want to protect the most vulnerable in our society,” he pointed out. — DayakDaily
