KUCHING, 10 Feb: The Sarawak government has targeted to vaccinate 70 per cent of the Sarawak population by August this year.
Minister of Local Government and Housing, Datuk Seri Sim Kui Hian said Sarawak will work closely with the Ministry of Health (MOH) to speed up a vaccination programme in Sarawak.
“Instead of waiting until February next year, we (Sarawak Government) will work with them (MOH) in finding how we can finish the vaccination programme within the state by August,” he told a media conference after officiating Fire Safety campaign for Chinese New Year 2021 celebration here today.
He said lack of healthcare resources in Sarawak is one of the main reasons why the state wanted to speed-up its vaccination programme.
He assured that with the 70 per cent of Sarawakians to be vaccinated, the number of Covid-19 cases could be flattened.
” The only way to be safe and protect as many as possible from the covid-19 pandemic is quickly getting all of us vaccinated,” he said.
Thus, Dr Sim added that instead of following the National Vaccination Programme, Sarawak will adjust the programme to suit the state’s need while working closely with the MOH.
Commenting on the possibility of buying their own Covid-19 Vaccine, Dr Sim told that the state government will be working with MOH by looking into any possible option to acquire the Vaccine.
“If we need to buy the vaccine, it depends on the amount of vaccine that will be given to us by the federal government. The vaccine made by Pfizer BioNTech can only be bought through government to government (G to G) agreement and in our case must be through the federal government, “he said.
Dr Sim said this is to ensure that every person in the country is getting the vaccine regardless of their social status.
“We don’t want to create a scenario where a group of people get vaccinated only because they have the money. What we want is every people get vaccinated regardless you have money or not,” he added. – DayakDaily
