Shahelmey (second right) receiving the third batch of Covid-19 vaccine which is expected to be distributed to Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Hospital Angkatan Tentera and Tawau Hospital.
KOTA KINABALU: Twenty-six nine hundred and ten more doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine arrived in the state today as part of the third batch of vaccine received since February 25.
Community Development and People’s Wellbeing Minister Shahelmey Yahya said the third batch of vaccine would be distributed to Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Hospital Angkatan Tentera and Tawau Hospital.
“To date, we have received a total of 60,840 doses of the vaccine since the first batch in February. As of yesterday, 16,577 people have been vaccinated out of the targeted 42,000 people for the first phase of the vaccination process. The first phase of vaccination is administered for frontliners,” said Shahelmey.
In a press conference at the Kota Kinabalu International Airport (KKIA) Terminal 2, Shahelmey said the first phase of the vaccination process began on March 4 and is expected to run till April. He added 176,000 people in Sabah have registered for the vaccine through the MySejahtera mobile application.
“The state government encourages the public to register for the vaccine and get vaccinated when the second and third phases begin, from April this year till February 2022.
“All districts in the state have begun the vaccination process. For rural areas, the Covid-19 Special Taskforce will conduct an outreach programme to identify target groups, to help with vaccine registration and administration.
“There are three ways to register for the vaccine: through the MySejahtera app, website, or via calling in. As for those with limited access to communication channels, the taskforce will go to the ground to help with manual registration. This would involve district officers and community leaders to identify target groups in rural communities,” said Shahelmey.
The second phase of vaccine administration, which would involve disabled persons, senior citizens and those with high-risk diseases, is expected to run from April to August this year. vaccine will be administered through 195 identified Vaccine Dispensing Centres (VDC) throughout the state.
Shahelmey said remaining cabinet ministers, who did not receive the first dose of the vaccine during the launch of the state-level National Immunisation Programme on March 4, are to be vaccinated in their respective constituencies to encourage the local community to get the vaccine.
Following the recommendation to include media practitioners as frontliners, Shahelmey also said the media are expected to receive the vaccine in the first phase of the vaccination process.
The post Sabah receives 26,910 more doses of vaccine appeared first on Borneo Post Online.