KOTA KINABALU – Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Mohd Noor is confident that Sabah can achieve the target of vaccinating 30,000 people daily beginning next month.
He said it is achievable given the opening of more vaccination centres, coupled with assistance from the private sector and the Health Department’s mobile vaccination programme in rural areas.
“At the same time, I have directed all community development leaders in Sabah to aggressively mobilise registration in all districts and speed up the vaccination programme,” he said in a statement here today.
Last Tuesday, Hajiji announced that 16 new centres were opened this month in addition to 95 already in operation as the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme is now extended to those 18 years old and above.
Sabah is hoping to achieve herd immunity by the end of this year as the state intensifies efforts and strategies that will see its 2.9 million population inoculated.
He reiterated the importance of Sabahans registering for vaccination through the various platforms provided by the government, so that the goal of zero active cases daily can be obtained as well.
Hajiji, who had earlier launched Sabah’s Zero Covid-19 campaign, said as of June 19, a total of 326,556 people including army personnel have received the first dose of vaccines under the first and second phase.
He said the immunisation programme, which has entered its third phase, also focuses on the manufacturing sector through the Public-Private Partnership Industrial Covid-19 Immunisation Programme (Pikas), in which an estimated 10,000 sector workers in Sabah will be inoculated.
Pikas will be conducted at the Sabah International Convention Centre beginning July, where daily targets of 1,500 workers from the sector are expected to get their vaccination.
The chief minister said the state government will see a sufficient supply of Pfizer, Sinovac, and AstraZeneca vaccines for the people, assuring that Sabah will be receiving more supplies from July onwards.
Hajiji said several countries like China, New Zealand, and Australia have successfully achieved zero active cases daily through strict compliance with the standard operating procedures, and most importantly, expediting the vaccination of their citizens.
“The Zero Covid-19 campaign is a joint initiative between the state government and Health Ministry aimed at creating a new health benchmark for people in the state and underscoring the importance of achieving zero active cases daily,” he said.
Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Adham Baba joined the chief minister virtually at the event together with Local Government & Housing Minister Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun, Community Development and People’s Wellbeing Minister Shahelmey Yahya, Sabah State Secretary Datuk Seri Safar Untong, and state Health Director Datuk Dr Christina Rundi. – The Vibes, June 21, 2021
