By Karen Bong
KUCHING, May 25: Timberland Medical Centre at 3rd Mile here will administering 200 Covid-19 vaccine shots per day based on appointments, as leading private hospitals in Sarawak roped in by the State government begin carrying out vaccinations today.
Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas, who was accompanied by Minister for Local Government and Housing Datuk Seri Dr Sim Kui Hian, had visited the hospital this morning.
Uggah emphasised that Timberland Medical Centre has been appointed as one of the private hospitals to serve as a Covid-19 vaccination centre in Sarawak as part of the State government’s strategily to increase the number of centres delivering vaccines to the people.
“We are very happy with the system (vaccination process at Timberland) which was carried out in an orderly manner.
“At the moment, they are delivering 200 shots per day but we will look into how the capacity can be increased as vaccines come in,” he said.
Uggah, who is also State Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) chairman, shared that in Kuching, there are more than 500,000 people above 18 years of age eligible for the vaccines and as such, foresee the great challenge to ensure all are vaccinated.
Currently in Sarawak, a total of 42 general practitioners (GP) clinics and seven private hospitals have been appointed as vaccination centres to roll out Covid-19 vaccine shots to the public on an appointment basis as per MySejahtera app system.
Meanwhile, Timberland operations senior manager Lau Kim Lim advised that only one family member can accompany their elderly relatives to the hospital for their vaccination shots.
“Arrive half an hour early prior to the appointment. Don’t come too early or too late. Just follow the appointment that has been fixed by the MySejahtera app. This is very important,” he said.
As for the procedure, Lau explained that they will proceed to the registration counter upon arrival and complete the process of registration, after which they will be ushered to a waiting hall where they will be required to sign the consent form.
They will then be called for the jab and later proceed to a waiting area for a 15-minutes observation before being allowed to go home with an appointment scheduled for the second dose.
To ensure crowd control, Lau advised people to adhere to standard operating procedures (SOP) including checking-in with the MySejahtera app and vaccination centres’ QR Code.
He also urged all Sarawakians eligible for the vaccination to sign up or register via the MySejahtera app to be vaccinated in order to protect themselves and the wider community. — DayakDaily
