KUCHING: A total of 1,688 individuals, mostly frontliners, received their Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine on the first day of the state vaccine rollout programme on Friday (Feb 26).
Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas said the process proceeded in a very orderly manner.
He said vaccinations were held in centres in various parts of the state except for Bintulu, Miri, and Limbang Divisions.
At the same time, he was appalled at a certain newspaper report which said that the state had only managed to vaccinate 132 people.
“This is fake news. People should write based on facts. Today’s statistics are small compared to our target of getting 900,000 to be vaccinated next,” he said when speaking to members of the media after visiting the Kampung Emperoh Jambu Covid-19 pandemic lockdown operation room in Padawan on today (Feb 27).
Touching on the state’s vaccine rollout programme, Uggah, who is Sarawak Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) chairman, said it was going to be a very massive and challenging operation.
“We are going to vaccinate 2.2 million people, which is a massive number. This is one of the most massive operations for SDMC — that is why we have to be very meticulous and detailed in our planning.
“We want to reach everyone who wants to be vaccinated and are eligible to be vaccinated. I am confident that the respective Divisional Disaster Management Committees (DDMCs) will be able to play their roles effectively with the experience they have,” he said.
On the vaccine rollout in the rural areas, he said preparations were ongoing and this would be done in Phase Two beginning in April.
“We are now getting the respective District Offices to do the registration and the health clinics to check on the health status of those wanting to be vaccinated,” he said.
He said the overall target was to conclude the statewide vaccine rollout by August, but pointed out that this would depend on the supply of vaccines.
With regard to the Kampung Emperoh Jambu lockdown operation, Uggah said this was imposed as the number of people affected had increased.
“We have detected 155 positive cases, of which 60 are the villagers themselves. We need to bring the situation under control and that is why we enforced the lockdown from Feb 23 to Mar 8,” he said.
He apologised for any inconvenience caused but said this was inevitable in order to stop the spread of the virus and save lives.
He hoped the villagers would cooperate by staying home in order to stop the spread and avoid getting infected. He urged them not to gather around or visit each other.
He also said SDMC would now only focus on specific areas affected instead of locking down the whole division or district.
“Our strategy is to detect, test, trace, isolate, and support. We have been doing this successfully in a number of places with positive cases. We have managed to bring the situation under control, whereby we have reduced and put an end to the spread,” he said.
At the function, Uggah presented donations of foodstuffs from non-governmental organisations (NGOs), elected representatives from the area, and the private sector to Penghulu Richard Daho, who received them on behalf of the villagers.
Present at the function were Mambong assemblyman Datuk Dr Jerip Susil, deputy state secretary Datuk Ik Pahon Joyik, State Health Department (JKNS) director Dr Chin Zin Hing, and Puncak Borneo MP Datuk Willie Mongin.
