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Dr Sim: S’wakian students furthering studies overseas can apply for vaccination prior to travelling

A health worker prepares a dose of the Covid-19 vaccine. — Bernama photo

KUCHING (June 23): Sarawakian students going overseas for further studies in September can apply to get vaccination before they travel.

State Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) advisor Dato Sri Dr Sim Kui Hian said this in response to numerous enquiries and requests from anxious students and parents.

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“There will be a procedure of how to apply for early vaccination involving a letter and supporting documents,” he said in a Facebook post last night.

“As (the students) need to complete two doses, we probably need to start Dose 1 in the first two weeks of July (substantial amount of Pfizer coming in July) to complete Dose 2 by first week of August.”

The Minister of Local Government and Housing said for Sarawakians overseas coming home after Dose 1 and need Dose 2 in Sarawak, they are advised to get either a Pfizer or Sinovac vaccine overseas, as both Pfizer and Sinovac are readily available in Sarawak.

Last Friday (June 18), Sarawak received another 350,000 doses of Sinovac vaccine under the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme.

Two days prior to that, the state also received 44,000 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine.

Sarawak aims to accelerate vaccination to ensure at least 80 per cent of the state’s population is vaccinated by August.

Last month, National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme coordinating minister Khairy Jamaluddin pledged that Sarawak would receive 380,000 doses of vaccines every week from this month until August.