(From front third left) Abdul Karim and federal Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Nancy Shukri meet with vaccine recipients at the industrial PPV for the tourism industry.
KUCHING (June 25): Sarawak has taken the initiative to set up the country’s first Covid-19 vaccination centre (PPV) specifically for those involved in the tourism sector.
Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah said the industrial PPV is jointly organised by the state and federal tourism ministries with the cooperation of the Sarawak Tourism Federation, Ministry of Health, Timberland Medical Centre, and the State Disaster Management Committee (SDMC).
He said some 2,000 tourism industry players had registered voluntarily through their respective employers for the four-day vaccination programme.
“The purpose of the programme is to respond to the call of the Malaysian government and its affiliated bodies to vaccinate as many Malaysians and Sarawakians as possible,” he said during his visit to the PPV at the Christian Ecumenical Worship Centre today.
“Whereas on the first day yesterday (Thursday) they managed to give injections to 321 people, and today they are targeting 500 injections, while Saturday and Sunday are 600 injections each.”
A statement said the programme coordinated through the ProtectHealth Corporation (PHC) has been approved by the Covid-19 Immunisation Task Force (CITF) at both state and national level.
Under the programme, the private sector is required to prepare and fund their own qualified medical team and vaccination centre, while the vaccine will be supplied and delivered to them free of charge by the government.
The industrial PPV is important to ensure that tourism industry players are vaccinated to prepare for the return of visitors when Sarawak achieves its target to vaccinate 80 per cent of the population by August.