LABUAN – A total of 1, 263 people here have failed to turn up for their second Covid-19 vaccine dose, said Labuan Health Department director Dr Ismuni Bohari.
He said they had given various reasons for defaulting despite having been reminded to go to the nearest vaccination centres (PPVs), and their inaction had resulted in unnecessary cost and time for the healthcare authorities.
“A large number of people failed to turn up for the second dose appointment, and we are very concerned about this as we are speeding up the completion of the second dose vaccination exercise,” he told Bernama today.
Dr Ismuni said most of the over 1,000 defaulters are local people and that only a small number are from the oil and gas sector and shipping crews.
He said the reasons given included a lack of transport to the PPVs, undergoing quarantine, having tested positive for Covid-19, regaining health and recovering from Covid-19 infection as well as pregnancy.
“As far as we are concerned, those who have undergone quarantine and have had their wristband removed can immediately get the second dose of the vaccine, while those on duty offshore can get permission from their respective employers,” Dr Ismuni said.
The Labuan Covid-19 Immunisation Task Force (CITF) had recorded 98.86% or 67,721 of the 68,500 adult population receiving the first dose of vaccine as of yesterday and, of that number, 59,690 have completed taking the second dose.
The People’s Representative Council had been entrusted to coordinate the walk-in and drive-through vaccination exercises which saw thousands of residents of 27 villages going to the PPVs and this helped to expedite Labuan achieving herd immunity on July 27.
Council chairman Mohd Dzulfaizal Ab Manan said his team would visit the defaulters at their homes to render the necessary assistance.
Labuan moved into Phase 3 of the National Recovery Plan (NRP) on Wednesday, alongside Perlis and Sarawak, after having achieved the required thresholds in the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme. – Bernama, August 6, 2021
