Abang Johari (third right) visiting the registration counter at the vaccination centre for adolescents aged 12 to 17 set up inside Dewan Majma. – Penerangan photo
KUCHING (Sept 16): The National Security Council (NSC) will decide whether Sarawak could transition into the endemic phase of Covid-19, said Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg today.
“It would depend on the decision of the National Security Council if we can declare the endemic status,” he told a press conference after visiting State Health Department’s vaccination centre for adolescents at Dewan Majma here.
Despite Sarawak experiencing a surge in the number of Covid-19 cases, Abang Johari was confident that the state could move into endemic phase in view of the rapid pace of the Covid-19 immunisation programme that is being conducted in the state.
Earlier, Abang Johari explained that the high daily cases of more than 3,000 positive Covid-19 cases that have been recorded in the state of late was due to the high number of backlog cases.
He said the high number of cases recorded in the state was also due to the massive number of screenings being done in Sarawak.
He added that most of the positive cases recorded in the state are in Category 1 and Category 2.
Also present during the visit were Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas who is Sarawak Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) chairman and Housing and Local Government Minister Dato Sri Dr Sim Kui Hian.
Meanwhile, Dr Sim, when met at the sidelines of the event, said the much awaited decision of whether Sarawakians would be getting their third dose of the Covid-19 vaccine would be made earliest tomorrow.
When asked what brand of the vaccines would be used for the booster dose, Dr Sim said the state could only disclose this after meeting Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin.