MIRI – Sarawak PKR has pressed the federal government for an urgent response to the state’s private hospitals and clinics willing to administer the Covid-19 vaccine around the clock.
Its vice-president, Dr Michael Teo, said more than 200 private medical facilities want to help tackle the escalating crisis, but Putrajaya has not been responsive.
The public health exco, who is a medical specialist himself, told The Vibes today that the state government should rope in private doctors without delay to ramp up the inoculation drive.
There are at least 2.2 million Sarawakians who need to get vaccinated so as to attain herd immunity, and government hospitals and clinics cannot accomplish the colossal task on their own, he said.
“The daily death toll and increase in new infections in Sarawak have reached extremely worrying levels.
“We in Sarawak have more than 200 private clinics and hospitals with professionally trained doctors and nurses who can help administer Covid-19 vaccines.
“For the past four months, we have tried to negotiate with federal ministries for permission to take part in the vaccination drive in Sarawak, but they have refused to give us any vaccine supplies.”
Since the federal side is slow to respond to the offer of help, said the Miri MP, the Sarawak government should work out its own plan to include the over 200 private hospitals and clinics in the vaccination process.
Share the vaccines with us. Let us help. We are not interested in profits; we just want to help vaccinate as many people as possible. There is no time for any more delay.
“Vaccination must be given No. 1 priority as Covid-19 is not only spreading very quickly in Sarawak, but also, foreign variants and mutations are fast appearing.”
He said every private hospital or clinic is capable of operating on a 24-hour basis, with staff working in shifts.
Private doctors and nurses are already trained and capable of administering the vaccine safely, he assured.
Alert on virus variants, both foreign and local
Dr Teo stressed that the race to get vaccinated has become even more urgent since foreign variants of the coronavirus were detected in the state.
The latest variant found in Sarawak is B.1.525, or known as Eta, said state Disaster Management Committee adviser Datuk Dr Sim Kui Hian yesterday.
Dr Sim, who is also state housing and local government minister, said the detection of the variant, said to have spawned in Nigeria, brings to three the number of foreign variants present in Sarawak, apart from local ones.
"We in Sarawak need to vaccinate as many people as possible, and as fast as possible.
“We need to get this done to prevent even more Covid-19 mutations and new variants emerging in our state.
“We need herd immunity very soon.”
He said Eta was found in a genomic analysis by Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas) and the Sarawak Covid-19 Vaccine Advisory Group.
However, he did not reveal the district where it was found, pending a further probe.
Sarawak has also seen its first seven cases of the Beta variant (B.1.351) and 12 of Theta (P.3).
Theta was first discovered in the Philippines, but has undergone double mutations since.
“We in Sarawak are thankful to Unimas for doing the genomic analysis to detect these variants,” said Dr Sim.
“They are helping us in the state and the Health Ministry know more about Covid-19 in Sarawak.”
With these foreign variants, he said, Sarawakians must be more vigilant than ever before.
He said Sarawak insisted on a 14-day quarantine for those entering the state, instead of 10 days, as a precautionary measure, as one’s vaccination status does not mean total immunity.
“Despite the inconvenience, heartaches and hardships, mandatory quarantine is needed to prevent more variants spreading in Sarawak.”
Some variants have implications for the efficacy of available vaccines, and could contribute to complications, he added.
The state’s Covid-19 death toll hit 305 yesterday, while infections have surged to nearly 49,000 since the pandemic began. – The Vibes, June 3, 2021
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