SANDAKAN – Muslim residents here feel encouraged to register for Covid-19 vaccination after their imams received the jab, said district Disaster Operation Control Centre chairman Wong Foo Tin.
He said the registration rate in Sandakan saw an increase after over 70 imams got their shots two weeks ago.
“That was the purpose of vaccinating religious leaders first. I believe it worked, judging from the increase in vaccination registration via MySejahtera and public feedback,” he said after visiting the area’s third vaccination centre at the Hakka Hall, Mile 6, here today.
Only 11 imams in the district have yet to be vaccinated.
“I understand that the public may have a lot of concerns regarding the content of the vaccine, but I think that when they see their respected religious leaders getting the jab, they feel more at ease,” said Wong, who is also Sandakan Municipal Council president.
As of yesterday, 26.8% of Sandakan’s adult population of over 363,000 have registered for immunisation via MySejahtera. This is in addition to those who signed up manually through the Covid-19 vaccination outreach programme.
Only 6.71% of the adult population is fully vaccinated, said Wong, who is nonetheless positive that the district will be able to attain herd immunity with an 80% vaccination rate by end-November.
“Sandakan is the second district in Sabah (in terms of highest daily vaccination rate). With the opening of the third vaccination centre at the Hakka Hall, we can inoculate up to 3,000 people a day.
“At this rate, our target is achievable if all things go smoothly and the people of Sandakan cooperate by registering for vaccination.”
The Hakka Hall jab site began operations today, with the capacity to administer up to 1,000 doses daily.
Wong said there has been no issue of insufficient vaccine supply in the district.
“Of course, we still need to get more supply to keep this (vaccination process) going. We are expecting more vaccines in the next two weeks.” – The Vibes, July 12, 2021
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