Picture shown is for illustration purpose only.
KOTA KINABALU (Sept 28): The slogan ‘Protect Yourself, Protect All’ is not a common phrase for 48-year-old Ariah Wati Ahdah, and it means a lot to the mother of five to ensure her family completes its Covid-19 vaccination.
Despite staying far from the city in Kinabatangan, she always remained aware of the importance of getting vaccinated, and encouraged all her children to do so as well.
Ariah Wati can now breathe a sigh of relief as she, along with her 47-year-old husband, Johary Abdul Kadir, and their three daughters, aged 19, 20 and 21, are all fully vaccinated while, their another two teenage children – a girl and a boy aged 14 and 16 – received their first dose on Sept 17.
“Our jobs require us to always deal with people. Although now the children learn online at home, as parents, we are always out working, and it is not impossible to be exposed to the risk of transmission at the workplace.
“For that reason, my husband and I always emphasise the importance of getting vaccinated and ensure that our children also get vaccinated for their own safety and health, as well as for the family and local community,” she told Bernama.
Ariah Wati also was excited when the government allowed Sabah adolescents aged between 12 and 17 to be vaccinated beginning Sept 16, as her two youngest children could finally receive their vaccination.
“This is important as part of preparations prior the their return to school for face-to-face teaching and learning.
Ariah Wati was also thankful that the vaccination process for her family went smoothly, with their house located close to the vaccination centre (PPV) at the Kinabatangan Hospital and Kinabatangan District Education Office.
“Therefore, there is no reason for us not to support the government’s objective to break the Covid-19 chain of infection through the vaccination programme that will benefit ourselves, our families and the society,” she said.
She also called on the people in Kinabatangan to get their Covid-19 vaccination at the stipulated PPV to achieve herd immunity in the district, besides obtaining the right information on the vaccination exercise.