KOTA KINABALU – Sabah’s plan to achieve 30,000 Covid-19 jabs a day in July has hit a bump.
Sabah Community Development and People Wellbeing Minister Shahelmy Yahya said the 729,000 doses scheduled to arrive this month would not be enough for the state to reach its target.
He added that the state is expected to receive 140,000 doses this week, which are mostly of the Sinovac vaccine.
He is not certain how many doses Sabah will get afterwards, but if the same amount of doses arrives in the subsequent weeks, the state will be able to hit at least 20,000 doses by mid-July.
However, Shahelmy said in a press conference the state government has already voiced its concern to Putrajaya over the amount of vaccines needed.
“I see Sabah will be able to hit 20,000 jabs a day if we receive more than just 140,000 doses a week.”
In tandem, he said the drive to get more people vaccinated should be ramped up, especially when there are many who do not turn up for their appointments.
Previously, Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Mohd Noor urged Putrajaya to speed up the delivery of the Covid-19 vaccines.
The current rate of vaccinations per day for the state stands at around 10,000 to 11,000.
Sabah Local and Government and Housing Minister Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun had announced that 729,000 doses of the vaccines were expected to arrive this month and another 1.1 million in August.
In June, at least four Covid-19 vaccination centres had to be closed for a couple of days due to shortages.
As of June 28, Sabah has received 628,890 doses, or 254,565 vials, and as of Sunday, around 601,420 people had received at least one dose.
This leaves 27,470 doses in the state, enough supply to last for two more days, given the state inoculates only around 11,000 a day.
Insufficient food baskets as more become impoverished
Although Sabah has 343,000 food baskets ready for the hardcore poor listed in the e-Kasih and the B40 community, Shahelmy said there are still those who had been missed out.
He said the government had relied on data from the Inland Revenue Board up to this point.
But did not include those who had lost their jobs during the pandemic, he said, adding that there are many from the M40 group who have now slipped into the B40 group.
Nonetheless, he said although the state is providing aid, opposition MPs had also been given a RM300,000 allocation each to assist those in need in their constituency.
He said the allocation would allow MPs to churn around 3,000 to 6,000 food baskets and thus, help the same number of people in need.
As for migrants, Shahelmy appealed to the agencies and NGOs to come forth and assist them on humanitarian grounds.
Sabahchat hotline launched, amid rising child abuse, domestic violence
Shahelmy also unveiled the 24-hour Sabahchat hotline, which can be contacted at 011-2525 4231, and will provide emotional and psychological support to help those facing difficulties amid the psychological toll from the pandemic.
The hotline was established by the Sabah Welfare Department, an agency under his ministry.
“During this trying time, we noted that psychosocial issues are often linked with family problems, emotional pressures and financial issues.
“Some individuals may take unreasonable actions to handle the pressure like violence, depression, anxiety, sleep disorder(s) and some to the extent of being suicidal.”
Shahelmy said Sabah also recorded a significant rise of in child abuse and domestic violence.
“This year alone until June 30, we have received 406 cases, with child abuse and domestic violence cases rising at a worrying rate.
“In 2020, 17 child abuse cases were recorded and in 2021 in the first six months alone, we received 16 cases, already close to matching last year’s number.
“On domestic violence, in 2020 we received 357 cases and in the first six months of this year, the number of cases have reached 222 cases,” he said. – The Vibes, July 6, 2021
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