Lui
KOTA KINABALU: Kota Kinabalu Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KKCCCI) on Thursday urged the State Government to address the low vaccination rate in Sabah.
As of July 14, KKCCCI president Datuk Michael Lui said the Covid-19 Vaccine Supply Access Guarantee Special Committee (JKJAV) reported only 12.1 per cent of the adult population in Sabah have completed two doses of the vaccine, the lowest in Malaysia, whereas the neighbouring state, Sarawak, has achieved 35 per cent full vaccination.
He said a total of 434,828 people received their vaccines on Wednesday, including 17,858 in Sabah and 74,316 in Sarawak.
He said the official figures showed that the vaccination programme was progressing at a slow speed in Sabah.
“We believe that the State Government is determined to ramp up the Covid-19 vaccinations up to 30,000 doses daily, but the delay in the supply of vaccines to Sabah is hindering the immunization progress.
“We hope that the State Government will overcome the obstacles and secure more vaccines for Sabah.”
Lui added that the latest threat from the Delta variant, daily cases that exceeded 10,000 for the last two days and the Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah’s call for the people to prepare for the worst have the people into panic mode.
“The people are banking all their hopes on Covid-19 vaccines and want to be inoculated as soon as possible because the vaccines could significantly reduce their chances of hospitalization, severe illnesses and mortality.”
He said larger vaccination coverage would not only protect the people against Covid-19, but also move the country towards the goal of herd immunity.
“We hope that the government could provide a timeframe for those who have registered for vaccination, as opposed to making them wait indefinitely.”
He said the government must speed up the supply of vaccines so that those who have registered could be granted an appointment as soon as possible.
Lui said prolonged lockdown was not viable as the measure could lead to serious repercussions.
“If the lockdown continues in the next few months, a lot of companies could go bust as they could no longer afford to bear their rental expenses, salaries and other financial commitments.
“The increasing unemployment rate would lead to more social issues.”
He said the government must find a way to balance lives and livelihoods, to prevent the economy from falling on a downward spiral while combating the pandemic.
He said the government should consider imposing localized lockdown only in Covid-19 red zones, while allowing more economic sectors to resume operation in other areas for states under Phase 2 of the National Recovery Plan (NRP).
Lui also concurred with the government’s approach in expediting vaccination and expanding Covid-19 screenings to isolate those infected.
“Achieving herd immunity is important to end the pandemic.
“At the same time, we have to learn to co-exist with the virus under the new normal.”