Abang Johari (left) visiting a vaccination booth in Unimas where a man receives his Covid-19 vaccination. Also seen are (from second left) Mohamad Kadim, Uggah and Dr Sim. – Photo by Churchill Edward
KUCHING (June 16): Sarawak wants to accelerate the pace of its vaccination porgramme by administering 50,000 doses of the Covid-19 vaccine daily, said Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg today.
Speaking during a press conference following his visit to the vaccination centre at Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas) in Kota Samarahan, Abang Johari said the figure would contribute towards achieving the target of vaccinating at least 80 per cent of the state’s population in order to achieve herd immunity by August.
He said yesterday alone, the state administered 45,291 doses of Covid-19 vaccine.
He was confident that the new target would be achievable when the next few shipments of Covid-19 vaccines arrived in the state.
According to him, more than 110,300 doses of Covid-19 vaccine for Miri, Bintulu and Belaga would arrive here tomorrow, while another 350,000 doses for Kuching would arrive this Friday.
“We do not have supply problem. If we add on the vaccination centres and be more aggressive, we can achieve our target to get 80 per cent of the state population vaccinated by August,” he said.
The state had previously set a target of 42,500 vaccinations per day.
Abang Johari also said that an international research centre for infectious diseases with the task of interacting with experts around the world would be set up in about three years’ time.
The RM200 million research centre would be built nearby the Sarawak Heart Centre in Kota Samarahan.
Meanwhile, Unimas, in a press statement today, said the vaccination centre at Unimas has been administering 1,000 doses of Covid-19 vaccine a day since Monday and would increase the pace of inoculation by administering 3,000 doses starting this Friday and subsequently 5,000 doses in the near future.
Abang Johari had earlier on praised Unimas for the smooth running of its vaccination centre and singled out its innovative QVAC automated queueing system as the best in the state.
Also present during the visit were Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas, Local Government and Housing Minister Dato Sri Dr Sim Kui Hian and Unimas Vice chancellor Prof Datuk Dr Mohamad Kadim Suaidi.