SEMPORNA – The decision on Covid-19 vaccinations for students will be finalised at a coordination meeting involving the Health and Education Ministries on Thursday.
Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said as soon as the final decision on the matter is reached, it will be taken to the National Security Council for further action.
“I, together with the Health Ministry’s top management, will have a meeting with the Senior Education Minister (Datuk Mohd Radzi Md Jidin) and the top management of the Education Ministry (on Thursday).
“We will finalise the matter at the meeting,” he told reporters after checking out the Covid-19 vaccination outreach programme for the island community in Pulau Larapan near here today.
He said apart from vaccination for students, several other proposals relating to the health and education sectors will also be discussed in the meeting.
On the situation in Sarawak that recorded a record high of 3,714 new Covid-19 cases yesterday, despite the state’s vaccination rate of 80%, Khairy said 99% of the cases are in Categories 1 and 2.
“Only four patients were in Categories 3, 4 and 5. The cases in Sarawak show that we are in the transition into the endemic phase, where we will have to live with the virus. There will be infections but the effects will not be as bad, with only cough and mild fever,” he said.
Meanwhile, Khairy commended the level of public awareness on the importance of Covid-19 vaccinations among the island and rural communities in Sabah.
He said this is evident in the encouraging response for the Covid-19 vaccination outreach programme at SK Pulau Larapan here, which provided 1,000 doses of the single-shot Cansino vaccine to recipients today.
“Not only the people in Pulau Larapan, but the people from nearby islands also flocked to the venue to get vaccinated. Communication to increase public awareness has improved and the people now know that vaccination is important.
“Semporna has received 26,000 doses of the CanSino vaccine and 3,000 have been used so far,” he said, adding that Sabah will continue to be given priority to get additional supplies of the CanSino vaccine. – Bernama, September 7, 2021
