Ismail (right) and Affendi (left) looking at nurses giving vaccine shots to MAF family members during the Drive Thru Vaccination program at Lok Kawi camp on Saturday.
KOTA KINABALU: About 95 percent of Malaysian Armed Forces have received their Covid-19 vaccines, said Senior Minister (Security Cluster) Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob.
He said about 600 doses of the Covid-19 vaccines are needed to reach the 99 percent mark for the Malaysian Armed Forces (MAF) in Sabah.
“At the moment, 10,400 officers and personnel of the Malaysian Armed Forces have received their vaccine and we only need about 600 doses to reach the 99 percent mark to complete the vaccination process.
“The remaining one percent will be for those working outside their respective base or for their immediate family members,” he said.
Ismail said it is important that all MAF members receive the Covid-19 vaccine as they are the front-liners in helping to maintain peace and untoward threats in the country.
“While protecting our country from any dangers, the MAF are also involved in numerous tasks including Ops Benteng, assisting in Covid-19 roadblocks and maintaining Standard Operating Procedure (SOP),” he said.
Ismail said this at the Drive Thru Vaccination program at the Lok Kawi army camp in conjunction with his working visit to Sabah on Saturday.
Also present was Chief of Defence Forces General Tan Sri Datuk Sri Haji Affendi Haji Buang.
Elaborating on Saturday’s program, Ismail said 636 would receive the vaccines which include 67 MAF members, 439 MAF family members, 69 civil servants and 61 members from the Territorial Army Regiment.
He said once MAF have completed their vaccinations, the Askar Wataniah and Army Veterans will be next to receive the vaccine.
Ismail added that the second phase of the vaccination program will be implemented at Camp Kabota in Tawau and Camp Sri Kinabatangan in Sandakan.
“The second phase will however depend on the supply of vaccines from the Ministry of Health,” he said.
Meanwhile, Ismail said the Army Combat Medic Vaccination Initiative (ACMVI) would continue in rural areas after the success of the same program at Long Pasia on June 24 to 25.
He said the ACMVI program will continue to Kampung Inarad Tongod Telupid next month.