Vaxxing goes house to house in Sabah interior

SANDAKAN – The Sabah Health Department is now going from house to house to inoculate individuals, especially those living in the rural areas.

The state, with its 63% vaccination rate, has shifted its focus from mass vaccinations at Covid-19 vaccination centres (PPVs) to house-to-house inoculation.

Following the launch of the Rapid Assessment and Vaccination Operation (Ravo) programme today, the department targets to search and inoculate remaining individuals at districts with low vaccination rates, starting with Sandakan.

Sabah Health Director Datuk Dr Rose Nani Mudin said the aim is to expedite the vaccination rate at rural districts so that Sabah can reach 100% vaccination rate as soon as possible.

Currently, the department is focusing on districts with a vaccination rate of below 60%, namely in Sandakan,Tawau, Kinabatangan, Tongod, Nabawan, Keningau, Papar, Lahad Datu and Kota Belud. 

The Ravo programme is jointly conducted by the Sabah Health Department, Community Development Leader Unit (UPPM) and local councils or district offices.

“We have had outreach programmes in these districts as well as house-to-house vaccination programmes conducted by non-governmental bodies. 

“However, given the low vaccination rate, Ravo will serve as a bigger and more strategic approach to supplement the existing efforts in boosting the vaccination rate in targeted areas,” Dr Rose Nani told a press conference during the first Ravo programme at Kg Forest squatter settlement here today.  

She said Ravo will have medical personnel go from house to house to ask for the vaccination status of the residents and will enter their homes either for immediate vaccination or bring them to a vaccination station in the village. 

Other than in villages, Ravo will also be conducted in towns.  

“Maybe (near) supermarkets, we could find those who have yet to receive the vaccine. So this is a more comprehensive (approach),” she said.  

While the Ravo that Dr Rose Nani described may sound like a “search and vaccinate” approach, the programme also updates the statistics of residents in these districts.  

She said UPPM and the Village Development and Security Committee are working together to gather the latest figures of the residents living in an area by going from house to house.  

“This is because the movement of the residents is very dynamic. The statistics that we received from the Statistics Department may not be accurate because people may have moved out of the district to work. 

“For example, maybe 50,000 Sandakan folk have graduated and moved to Kota Kinabalu or Johor to work.  

“So by getting the real figure, we can update our statistics and only when all the houses are covered can we have evidence of us inoculating all our residents,” she explained.  

With the shifting approach, Dr Rose Nani said PPVs in Sabah will be gradually reduced from 224 to only 13 PPVs statewide by October 15.  

These PPVs will be maintained until November 7 to cater to teenagers receiving their second doses.  

As of yesterday, Sandakan’s vaccination rate was at 52% out of 363,100 adults.  

For Sabah, 63.3% of the adult population has been fully vaccinated and that is 1,754,120 out of 2,250,440 people. 

Sandakan and Tawau are currently the districts with the highest number of unvaccinated individuals, with over 151,000 people. 

“Our mission is to find these people and get them vaccinated.

“Our hope is for all Sabahans to have the mindset that they must get vaccinated, and we will do all we can to reach them and have them inoculated,” Dr Rose Nani added. – The Vibes, October 8, 2021