Julian Tan
KUCHING (Aug 16): A Democratic Action Party (DAP) man has called upon the Sarawak government to expedite the Covid-19 vaccination drive for adolescents aged between 12 and 17 years old.
Julian Tan, who is special assistant to DAP Sarawak chairman Chong Chieng Jen, also believed that the vaccination centres (PPVs) should allow walk-ins for those under this age group – provided that they must be accompanied by their parents or legal guardians who, in turn, had completed their own vaccination.
“Currently, the number of people going for vaccination at PPVs has gone down; thus, we should utilise the current capacity and the experience gained to immediately implement the programme to get our young ones vaccinated as quickly as possible.
“Such a move can also accommodate any existing plan. It can reduce the workload and the number needed to be vaccinated during the rolling-out of the programme in view of the reopening of schools in September, and also the relaxation of several restrictions,” he said in a statement yesterday.
Nonetheless, Tan lauded the state government over its plan to vaccinate the youngsters and also for registering high Covid-19 vaccination rate.
He added that while data had shown vaccines being highly effective in preventing severe cases, they also underscored the risk that even those who had been vaccinated could still infect others.
“As such, more need to be done to reduce transmissions, especially to those yet to be vaccinated such as those from the 12-17 age group.
“With almost 29 per cent of Sarawakians consisting of those aged 18 and below, getting vaccinated would further accelerate the effort to combat the Covid-19 pandemic,” said Tan.
He also cited a remark made by State Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) advisor Dato Sri Dr Sim Kui Hian on the latter’s social media on Aug 13, which said: “In Sarawak, vaccines are waiting for the people. (We) can see the impact only when the vaccines are being administered into the body, not (by them) sitting in the fridge.”
In this regard, Tan said: “We already have the means, the facilities in place, and the experience – so why are we still waiting?
“In this pandemic time, every single day saved can be life-saving.”