Initiative launched to ensure all KL, S’gor adults receive first dose by next month

KUALA LUMPUR – Putrajaya and the Selangor government will be implementing Operation Surge Capacity to ensure that all adults in coronavirus-hit Kuala Lumpur and Selangor will receive their first dose of the vaccine come August 1.

Vaccination coordinating minister Khairy Jamaluddin said in an online press conference that the federal government, Selangor Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Amirudin Shari, Federal Territories Minister Tan Sri Annuar Musa and the Covid-19 Immunisation Task Force (CITF) decided this today.

“Operation Surge Capacity will focus on Kuala Lumpur and Selangor. We will ensure that every adult resident in Selangor and Kuala Lumpur will receive at the very least their first dose by August 1.

“To achieve this, we have to increase our capacity and vaccine supply to Kuala Lumpur and Selangor to manage the pandemic in these two states.”

Kuala Lumpur and Selangor have been the hardest hit by the pandemic, raking in the lion’s share of daily cases.

To counter this, the government’s Operation Surge Capacity has taken the model used to combat and limit the coronavirus spike in Labuan.

Currently, there are 6.1 million adults living in Selangor and Kuala Lumpur. Up till July 15, 3.5 million adults have received their first dose.

Khairy expects another 1.3 million to receive their first dose between July 26 and August 1.

Of the 1.3 million individuals, 250,000 will be managed under Selangor’s vaccination programme, Selvax, which will focus on industrial workers.

Bangi MP Ong Kian Ming has been selected by Amirudin to manage the state’s inoculation drive. 

Khairy added that the two vaccines used for the operation will be Pfizer-BioNTech (50%) and Sinovac (50%).

“I call on all adults living in the Klang Valley and Selangor who have not registered to please register. As of now, around 11% of the population in the Klang Valley have not registered for their vaccination.

“We need to control this pandemic.”

Meanwhile, Health Director-General Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah called the joint initiative “a clarion call” to expedite vaccinations.

A clarion call to vaccinate all adult residents in Klang Valley with at least one vaccine dose by 1st August 2021. Together with a concerted effort from everyone, we can save lives and ease hospital congestion. Vaccination is the key to control the COVID-19 pandemic pic.twitter.com/1tpiFgdKQM

— Noor Hisham Abdullah (@DGHisham) July 16, 2021

In a tweet, he said this was “a concerted effort to save lives and ease hospital congestion”.

He added that vaccinating the population with the goal of achieving herd immunity is vital to controling the pandemic. – The Vibes, July 16, 2021