LABUAN: The Covid-19 vaccination drive in this duty-free-island is reaching its peak with 82 per cent of the total adult population having registered under the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme (PICK) via the MySejahtera application.
This federal territory is among the top four states in the country to record the highest percentage of people registered for vaccination, alongside Putrajaya (100 per cent), Kuala Lumpur (100 per cent) and Selangor (82.34 per cent), while neighbouring Sabah remains the lowest with only 30.88 per cent of the adult population registered as of Saturday.
Labuan Covid-19 Immunisation Task Force (CITF) chairman Rithuan Ismail said the high percentage of registration showed the people’s awareness towards the importance of immunisation.
“It means we have a really broad view of the impact of vaccination among the local folks…the posting of vaccination experiences in the various social media platforms is also a way of normalising vaccination, thus encouraging people to register,” he told Bernama.
He said the opening up of a new vaccination centre (PPV) at the Labuan Matriculation College utilising the walk-in method (manual registration through people’s representative councils) (MPP) has greatly helped expedite the vaccination process, and that this also had helped boost the people’s confidence for a faster vaccination process.
Rithuan said the walk-in vaccination method has also been extended to the existing PPV at Dewan Sri JKR after noon daily for the nearby villagers and residents.
“The great thing about the high percentage is that we are able to see the incredibly positive effect of the vaccination exercise, where so many vaccines have been rolled out across the country, and very soon, we will be able to travel, see family members and feel safe,” he said.
Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation Khairy Jamaluddin, who is also PICK Coordinating Minister, on June 21 had said that the government was currently studying the feasibility of lifting several restrictions for fully vaccinated individuals such as possibly allowing them to travel interstate.
Meanwhile, Rithuan said the MPP were actively initiating vaccination campaigns in the densely populated zones, distributing vaccination appointment coupons to people, as part of Labuan CITF’s efforts to speed up vaccination in Labuan to achieve its target of herd immunity by the middle of July.
“We must not deny the local media’s role in assisting us to spread the positive news on vaccination…be it in their official portals or in their personal social media platforms like Facebook…sharing vaccination stories is a way of normalising vaccination, of being transparent about the experience and encouraging friends to do the same,” Rithuan said.
Labuan has four PPV – Kompleks Darul Kifayah, Dewan Sri JKR, Labuan Matriculation College and Dewan Blok L Taman Mutiara. – Bernama