By Adrian Lim
KOTA SAMARAHAN, June 16: Sarawak is close to meeting its target of rolling out 50,000 Covid-19 vaccine shots a day after the State vaccination drive hit a record high of administering 45,291 doses in a single day yesterday.
With the increased supply of Covid-19 vaccine and more vaccine administering centres (PPV) being created, Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg is confident that the target is achievable in the near future.
“For the State, we want to accelerate our vaccination as our target is to achieve 80 per cent of the population being vaccinated for herd immunity by August.
“As (of) yesterday, we have achieved 45,291 jabs a day.
“If we add vaccine administering centres (PPV) and we go aggressive, we will have a target of 50,000 jabs a day,” he told reporters after making a working visit to the PPV at Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas) here today.
Abang Johari noted that 110,380 doses of Covid-19 will be delivered to Miri, Bintulu and Belaga tomorrow (June 17) while 350,000 doses of Covid-19 vaccine will be arriving in Kuching on June 18.
He emphasised that there is no issue with the supply of Covid-19 vaccine to Sarawak.
As for the vaccination in the interior, he pointed out that the State government has made some adjustments by using the jab first and register later approach to speed up the vaccination.
Besides, he shared that the State government has also launched the mobile team using boats to vaccination centres and longhouses, by road and flying doctors to facilitate the vaccination process in the interior.
In the meantime, he disclosed that there are currently 121 government hospitals, 80 general practitioners, 12 private hospitals as well as Unimas PPV and the National Youth Skills Institute in Miri which are administering Covid-19 vaccine in Sarawak.
For the PPV at Unimas, he gathered the centre would be administering 3,000 jabs today while steadily increasing to 5,000 jabs a day this Friday.
For the first two days of operation, Abang Johari said the PPV at Unimas has provided 1,000 jabs of Covid-19 vaccine a day.
He noted the management of Unimas has ensured the vaccination process is being handled smoothly through its infrastructure, queue management application and a strong team of 600 people consisting of medical officers, students and volunteers.
He believed the PPV at Unimas will provide the residents and community in Kuching and Kota Samarahan to be vaccinated the soonest.
Among those accompanying Abang Johari were Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas, Minister for Local Government and Housing Dato Sri Dr Sim Kui Hian and Unimas vice-chancellor Datuk Dr Mohamad Kadim Suaidi. — DayakDaily
