KOTA KINABLAU: Six vaccinated Health Ministry personnel have contracted Covid-19 in Sabah, said Community Development and People’s Wellbeing Minister Shahelmey Yahya.
He said the health personnel were infected despite having received the second dose of the vaccine.
He said the individuals contracted the virus through close contacts or were infected in less than a week after receiving their vaccine jab.
Shahelmey said the vaccine did not provide 100 percent protection against Covid-19, but served to boost immunity in order to curb and reduce the number of infections.
“It is important for those who have been vaccinated to comply with the standard operating procedures (SOPs) set by the government because we have yet to achieve 80 percent herd immunity.”
He said that in a press conference after representing Chief Minister Datuk Seri Panglima Hajiji Noor in launching phase two of the National Covid-19 Immunization Programme for Sabah at the multi-purpose hall of the Sabah Federal Government Administrative Complex here on Monday.
On another note, Shahelmey said he was not aware of queue jumpers in phase one of the immunization programme.
“I am not aware of (queue jumpers).
“The first phase is only for frontliners and essential services workers only.”
To another question, Shahelmey said 600 people in Sabah have received the first dose of China’s Sinovac vaccine.
On Covid-19 infections in schools, he assured that the State Covid-19 Disaster Management Committee was monitoring the situation and would take the necessary prevention and sanitization measures.