90 pct Sarawakians age 18 above fully vaccinated – Abang Johari

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Abang Johari speaking at the state banquet in conjunction with the 85th birthday of Sarawak Yang di-Pertua Negeri Tun Pehin Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud at BCCK in Kuching. – Photo by Information Department

KUCHING (Oct 9): Sarawak has fully vaccinated 90 per cent of its population aged 18 years and above to date, said Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg.

He said that almost 75 per cent of teenagers aged 12 to 17 years in the state have received their first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine.

“As a follow-up measure to curb Covid-19 infection, the state government is of the view that the use of approved anti-body or anti-viral drugs as being pursued by several countries including Malaysia, is a positive step to further combat Covid-19,” he said.

He was speaking at the state banquet in conjunction with the 85th birthday of Sarawak Yang di-Pertua Negeri Tun Pehin Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud at Borneo Convention Centre Kuching (BCCK) here tonight.

Meanwhile, Abang Johari said the state government had announced seven assistance packages as well as the RM10.1 billion State Budget 2021 which was the biggest budget in the state in an effort to cushion the effects brought by the pandemic.

He added that the assistance packages, from Bantuan Khas Sarawakku Sayang (BKSS) 1.0 up to 7.0 with 30 programmes and initiatives involved an expenditure of RM5.3 billion

Aside from that, he said that the state had allocated more than RM91 million to the Sarawak Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) to cover the expenses in handling the Covid-19 pandemic in the state.

Such expenses, he added, include vaccine-related logistics costs, increasing the capacity of health and medical equipment as well as intensive care unit (ICU) wards, payments for the use of the hotels as quarantine centers, as well as expenses for the food basket programme.

“Measures involving these assistances and financial injections are to ensure that every layer of our society is protected, to support business viability and to ensure that our economy continues to survive despite the severe impact of Covid-19,” he said.