Where are the jabs promised to Tawau, MP asks Putrajaya

TAWAU – Tawau MP Datuk Christina Liew wants the federal government to expedite Covid-19 vaccinations for her constituents, saying only 20% of the local population has received their first dose of the vaccine.

She said the low numbers indicate that the government was not living up to its target of vaccinating 80% of Tawau’s population.

She said thousands in her constituency have been waiting for their vaccine appointments since registration opened in February this year.

Covid-19 Immunisation Task Force statistics show 362,000 people are eligible for vaccination but only 104,250 have registered.

Out of the number, 75,636 – or 20.8% – have received their jabs.

48,882 have completed their first dose and 26,754 have obtained their second dose from the three vaccination centres (PPV) in Balung, Merotai and Tawau.

“I urge the government to immediately deploy an additional supply of vaccines to Tawau to boost the poor rate of vaccination,” she said in a statement.

The Api-Api assemblyman also proposed that one more PPV be set up in Apas, Tawau, to ramp up the vaccination process in the east coast district.

“While visiting my constituents, I found that the lack of transport has been among the main reasons for the low vaccination rate in Tawau.

“The villagers have absolutely no means of going to the vaccination centre.

“To my knowledge, in neighbouring countries like Singapore, the government provides transport such as taxis to send urban vaccine recipients to the PPV although they live in the city. What’s more for those living in the outskirts or rural areas,” she said. 

The former Sabah deputy chief minister also called on the Science Technology and Innovation Minister Khairy Jamaluddin to release the guidelines for undocumented immigrants to get their shots.

“This is important as Sabah in general, and Tawau in particular, has a large number of undocumented migrants and therefore it is a major cause for concern.

“I urge the federal government to give clear directions on vaccinations for the migrant population.

“We need to address this issue as soon as possible to curb the pandemic as there is a substantial number of migrants working in the plantation and construction sectors, as well as coffee shops, restaurants and as domestic help,” she said. – The Vibes, August 4, 2021