The vaccination process at SMK Singai.
BAU (Sept 10): A total of 2,842 students from four secondary schools in Bau will be receiving their Covid-19 vaccination following the commencement of the immunisation drive for adolescents in the district.
Tasik Biru assemblyman Dato Henry Harry Jinep said the vaccination drive kicked off yesterday at SMK Singai, and this will be followed by SMK Bau on Sept 10, SMK Lake on Sept 11 and 12 and SMK Paku also on Sept 11 and 12.
He revealed that based on data, a total of 2,932 adolescents including 90 non-schooling ones in Bau are scheduled to be vaccinated, comprising those in the age groups of 16 to 17 years and also those with comorbidities aged 12 to 15.
“The recipients comprise those who have registered for the vaccine through their schools and the Bau District Office.
“These include teenagers who are no more schooling, who have registered themselves with the chiefs of their respective villages, who will also be vaccinated.” he told reporters after monitoring the vaccination process for first batch of 315 recipients at SMK Singai here yesterday.
He also said for the four secondary schools in Bau, the process of giving the first dose of the vaccination is expected to be completed by Sept 12.
Based on records, they comprise those in SMK Singai (480 students), SMK Bau (506), SMK Lake (928) and SMK Paku (928).
“And by Oct 3, we will have the second dose to complete the process of two-dose vaccination,” he added.
He said for recipients who cannot attend the vaccination date due to various problems such as logistics, undergoing quarantine or living in Enhanced Movement Control Order (EMCO) areas, their names will be collected and submitted to the District Health Office and the Ministry of Health for new vaccination dates.
“This means that they will not be denied their chance of getting the vaccine,” he explained.
On another matter, Henry said free WiFi service for students of institutions of higher learning living in villages under Tasik Biru constituency will commence next week the soonest.
He also clarified the three centres providing internet access via Unifi are at N2 Tasik Biru Service Centre for those in Bau town and surrounding areas, the 1Singai for those in Tondong and Singai, and Heritage Cafe for those in Jagoi and the surrounding areas.
“For these internet centres, we will have them in three locations and we are looking into the possibility of working with the Sarawak Multimedia Authority (SMA) if the demand is very encouraging,” he said.
He further said that the centres will be able to cater for as many as 40 students and divided into slots, with strict adherence to standard operating procedures (SOPs).
He added that the initiative was undertaken by his service centre following feedback from the students, who faced great difficulties in accessing Internet for their studies.
“Some students even had to rent rooms in the city just to access Internet for their studies. There are also students who drive a car just to look for Internet access and sometimes sleep inside the car.
“There are also students who drive to Bau town, which also has an unstable Internet service for the same purpose.
“So given such predicament, we came up with the idea to set up free Internet centres to benefit the students from the constituency,” Henry pointed out.
Henry also said that the centres will be specifically for IPT students, who have to show their student IDs before being allowed to use the facilities.