SETIU – Terengganu aims to achieve 80% herd immunity within the next five months through the Covid-19 vaccination programme, state health director Dr Nor Azimi Yunus said.
She said the target was based on five strategies formulated by the department together with the Terengganu chapter of the Covid-19 Immunisation Task Force (CITF), which would be implemented in the near future.
“We are confident that the target can be achieved if Terengganu receives its supply of vaccines according to schedule. In fact, we have added five more public vaccination centres on June 1, bringing the total to 13 centres currently operating.
“From April to May, we have established eight centres throughout Terengganu, with 3,808 individuals receiving vaccinations every day. The number has increased to 5,380 individuals daily following the addition of the five new centres,” she told reporters at a Covid-19 vaccination outreach programme in Kg Bukit Mundok here today.
A total of 700 residents from eight nearby villages including Kg Alor Lik, Kg Bukit Aman, Kg Sungai Las, Kg Tayor, and Kg Bukit received their Covid-19 vaccine shots at the programme.
Dr Nor Azimi said the second strategy was to increase vaccination outreach programmes to remote villages in each district, the first taking place in Ketengah Jaya, Dungun recently involving 500 residents, as well as two simultaneous programmes in Kota Putera, Besut, and Bukit Mundok, Setiu today.
“The next strategy is to collaborate with Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin to make it the latest centre capable of vaccinating 1,500 individuals daily, to a maximum of 3,000 individuals daily.
“After that, we have plans to establish centres in selected mosques in each district to speed up the vaccination exercise in Terengganu,” she said.
Besides this, Dr Nor Azimi said the department had also obtained approval from 12 private general practitioners to act as vaccinators for their patients.
“We are optimistic that with these five key strategies, the target of 195,340 individuals vaccinated every month will be achieved and we will be able to achieve 80% herd immunity in the next five months,” she said. – Bernama, June 5, 2021
