By Adrian Lim
KUCHING, Feb 24: The state government has secured the supply of more than 87,000 doses of Covid-19 vaccine until the end of March.
The information was disclosed by Minister for Local Government and Housing Datuk Seri Dr Sim Kui Hian during a webinar hosted by the Sarawak Business Federation (SBF) entitled Covid-19 vaccination and the impact on Sarawak business today.
“The first shipment (of Covid-19 vaccine) and the subsequent shipments were all from Pfizer-BioNTech.
“We know that we will get 87,000 doses out of one million doses for the whole country from Pfizer-BioNTech until the end of March,” he said.
Meanwhile, Sarawak has received the first shipment of Covid-19 this evening which contained 23,400 doses.
According to State Health director Dr Chin Zin Hing, Sarawak will receive the second shipment containing 31,590 doses on Mar 2, third and fourth shipment which carry 4,680 doses each delivering on Mar 10 and Mar 17 respectively.
He added the fifth shipment is expected to carry 14,040 doses arriving on Mar 24 and the sixth shipment with 9,360 doses on Mar 31.
On another note, Dr Sim outlined that the vaccination strategy in Sarawak will be guided by the advice of medical experts and is evolving from time to time.
He said the state government is looking at four million doses of Covid-19 vaccine to speed up and complete the vaccination process by August 2021.
Dr Sim revealed that the Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Adham Baba, Health secretary-general Datuk Mohd Shafiq Abdullah as well as the manufacturer of Covid-19 vaccine Pfizer-BioNTech are aware of the vaccination timeline of Sarawak.
Besides, he shared that the Sarawak Covid-19 Advisory Group is constantly looking at other Covid-19 vaccines that are available in the market.
These include regulatory approval, import licences and so on.
During the webinar, Dr Sim also said the state government has established a committee called the Sarawak Covid-19 Vaccine Advisory Group.
He revealed that the group is headed by former state health director Datu Dr Andrew Kiyu and its members including past medical experts.
Dr Sim explained that the group will evaluate other Covid-19 vaccines which are available in the market and is looking at vaccines that do not need to be stored using low temperature for vaccination of the rural folks.
Among those who joined the webinar include SBF deputy president Datuk Philip Ting, Sarawak Bumiputera Entrepreneur Chambers (DUBS) chairman Datu Abang Helmi Ikhwan, Sarawak Economic Planning Unit director Dr Muhammad Abdullah Zaidel, Sarawak Tourism Federation (STF) president Audry Wan Ullok and Borneo Medical Centre (BMC) board of management chairman Dr John Chew. —DayakDaily
