LANGKAWI – If the Covid-19 vaccine delivery schedule holds, the island will be ready to reopen its tourism industry by September.
The reopening also depends on whether Langkawi is able to achieve green-zone status.
Saiful Anwar Azmi, the district officer heading Langkawi’s vaccination programme, said the island is expected to receive 29,250 doses on July 14 and 35,100 doses on July 21.
“We currently have two vaccination centres (PPVs) at the Langkawi Development Authority (Lada) badminton court and Dewan Syifa Padang Matsirat Langkawi. Another PPV will open at the Langkawi International Convention Centre.
“Once that is set up, we are expecting to vaccinate 3,000 to 4,000 people a day.”
Langkawi is currently the district with the highest number of vaccine registrants in Kedah, with 75.8% of residents signed on for the jabs via MySejahtera.
“Once we have achieved herd immunity with 80% of our people vaccinated, we can expect tourists to return to the island.
“However, we need to ensure that we move from a red zone to a green zone first. That is my focus right now. That is our way forward.”
Langkawi is looking to launch a zero-cases campaign on the island, where enforcers will focus on total SOP compliance and vaccination to regain its green-zone status.
Saiful believes that Langkawi will be the first to bounce back when it comes to tourism as it is located on the west coast, and the island won’t be closed during the upcoming monsoon season.
Unlike Pangkor Island, which is small, and Penang Island, which is congested, he said Langkawi is “the perfect world-class tourism destination”.
Last Wednesday, Kedah Menteri Besar Mohammad Sanusi Md Nor had announced that tourists can enter Langkawi once they have received their full two doses of vaccine.
Sanusi said he was confident that the opening of Langkawi in the next two months will restore the tourism sector on the island.
“Hotels in Langkawi are in a very bad state at the moment; we understand that and are very sympathetic. We want to speed up the vaccination process because I myself want to visit Langkawi.”
Langkawi has a population of about 111,000.
As of yesterday, the district is still classified as a red zone, logging four new Covid-19 cases aside from its 43 current active ones. – The Vibes, July 3, 2021
