Uggah urges 380,047 eligible adults to get Covid-19 booster shots

By Karen Bong

KUCHING, Jan 18: The Sarawak government encourages the 380,047 eligible adults who have yet to get their Covid-19 booster shots in the State to do so as soon as possible to protect themselves, their loved ones and communities.

Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas emphasised that the booster vaccination programme, which was rolled out on Oct 13 in Sarawak, is going well with 72.2 per cent of eligible adults getting the said shot as of Jan 13. 

“However, there are still people who are eligible but yet to come forward for their booster dose. 

“They comprise 66,174 eligible adults in Kuching, 71,362 in Miri, 38,284 in Sibu and 31,671 in Sarikei. 

“So I appeal and encourage them to get their booster shots by visiting some of the active vaccination centres (PPVs) such as this (integrated) one in tHe Spring (Shopping Mall),” he said after visiting tHe Spring Mall PPV here today.

In addition, 77 private clinics, 12 private hospitals and 136 public health clinics are also offering booster shots and appointments can be made by contacting the clinics directly. 

Apart from the integrated PPV in tHe Spring Kuching, there are two PPVs each in Sibu, Miri and Sri Aman respectively, one in Limbang and one UTS offsite PPV in Sibu currently still active to administer booster shots.

Uggah, who is also the Sarawak Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) chairman, added that overall, 75.7 per cent of Sarawak’s adult population is fully vaccinated.

“To date, 91.8 per cent of our adult population aged 18 and above have received their two Covid-19 shots, while 88 per cent of 12 to 17-year-olds have been vaccinated. 

“I want to congratulate the people of Sarawak for their positive response. Covid-19 vaccination including booster is very important to protect yourself, your loved ones and the community at large,” he said. 

He pointed out that accelerating widespread vaccination has helped improve the Covid-19 situation and brought the number of daily cases down in Sarawak. 

“Even though our figure is low, we must however continue to be vigilant, take good care of our health and adhere to all SOP (standard operating procedures) still in place. 

“By observing these preventive measures, we hope the pandemic that is currently fueled by the fast-spreading Omicron can be curbed in Sarawak. We want to keep the figure as low as possible,” he reminded.
 
Uggah emphasised that only with close cooperation from the people that Sarawak can achieve good results and if Covid-19 can be controlled, life can return fairly close to normal in the near future. — DayakDaily