Church heads get first vaccine shot in arm

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Poh (left) and Danald in a photo after vaccination.

KUCHING (Apr 25): Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Kuching Most Revd Simon Poh and Bishop of Anglican Church in Sarawak and Brunei Rt Revd Datuk Danald Jute both received their first dose in Phase Two of the Covid-19 vaccination programme here yesterday.

Poh related experiencing a little soreness on the needle spot but was able to work comfortably over the weekend.

“I registered for the vaccination in February and received an appointment for the first dose at Stadium Perpaduan, Petra Jaya on April 23. I arrived early and waited in line to get to the registration counters as there were many people.

“On the whole it was a smooth process. I give my respect to Rela, the admission and ushering teams as well as medical personnel who were on hand to assist everyone present. Thank you for your gentleness and friendliness that I have experienced and witnessed on my vaccination day.

“Later, I met Danald who was also vaccinated and we decided to take a photo together,” Poh said in a statement yesterday.

Poh stated that the Catholic position is vaccination is morally good as it is one’s duty to protect one’s own health and pursue the common good according guidelines issued by the Malaysian Bishops’ Conference on Feb 4. However, each person has to make the decision freely according on one’s conscience.

“A humanitarian principle is to make your decision with an outward viewpoint by considering the good of others and not thinking of self-preservation which is inward looking. By making the decision to be vaccinated, one is ultimately making a choice to protect others around the person–family, colleagues, friends and the larger society.

“Thus when 70 per cent of the population has been immunised, we will achieve herd immunity and help overcome Covid-19 in our community,” he added.

With the vaccinated being rolled out in stages, Poh said that it was vital that members of the public should not let down their guard especially with current wave of infection reaching three digits daily.

To further contain the infection, he said that the public must fully comply with the standard operating procedures (SOP) such as wearing face masks, observe physical distancing, minimising points of contact, reducing social circles as well as unnecessary trips.

“In solidarity with our Muslim brothers and sisters during Ramadan, let us intensify our good work with acts of kindness. I encourage people of all faiths and goodwill to pray and invoke God for protection and intervention in the worldwide Covid-19 pandemic.”