IPOH – The delayed arrival of Covid-19 vaccine supplies is one of the reasons for Perak’s delay in vaccine roll-out, said Menteri Besar Datuk Saarani Mohamad.
“It is not accurate to say ‘not enough vaccines’, because the Science, Technology and Innovation Ministry had promised to give us 688,000 doses in July, but we received 820,000 doses.
“We received more than promised, but the arrival was not as scheduled.
“It is also subject to the schedule of vaccine supplies from foreign suppliers,” he told the state assembly meeting when replying to a supplementary question from Yahaya Mat Nor (Amanah-Pasir Panjang) today.
To speed up the vaccination process in high-density areas, Saarani said, the state has upgraded the daily capacity of existing public vaccination centres, and set up drive-through vaccination centres and mobile outreach programmes.
Perak has 22 public centres, six drive-through centres, 14 mobile centres, eight special centres, one integrated centre (public and private), one non-governmental organisation centre, one higher education institute centre, 15 private hospital centres, 150 medical practitioners’ centres, and eight centres under the Public-Private Partnership Covid-19 Industry Immunisation Programme, which can administer between 40,000 and 45,000 doses per day.
“The state government plans to set up 12 more new centres and upgrade three existing centres,” he said.
For rural areas, Saarani said, community outreach programmes were conducted targeting communities or residents in Felda and Felcra, as well as the Orang Asli community.
He said that Perak is expected to achieve 80% herd immunity by October and complete the entire vaccination programme in November, subject to vaccine supply.
As of Tuesday, a total of 1,118,358 people or 60.04% have received the first dose, while 797,317 people or 42.81% have completed the second dose. – Bernama, August 26, 2021
