KUCHING: The Sarawak government is going all out to ensure that the vaccination process for teens below 18, which is expected to commence tomorrow, will take off smoothly.
Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg said the Sarawak Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) and State Education Department were working out a suitable approach for the teenagers’ vaccination programme.
“The medical experts are evaluating and we are providing the infrastructure for the vaccination process.
“It is either to have it (vaccination process) at one place or to vaccinate them at the schools,” he told reporters after officiating at the Sarawak Land and Survey Department’s Integrity and Innovation Day 2021 at the State Legislative Assembly (DUN) Complex yesterday (Sept 6).
Abang Johari added what was important was to administer the vaccines to students aged 12 to 18 years old.
“I would also like to thank the federal government for approving the vaccination for our young people in Sarawak,” he said.
On whether the teenagers would be getting the Pfizer vaccine, the chief minister said that he would leave it to the medical experts to decide.
“But most likely it is going to be Pfizer,” he said.
Last Sunday, SDMC chairman Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas revealed that Sarawak was finalising its preparations to vaccinate teens below 18 years old to protect them from Covid-19. He said the vaccination was expected to begin on Wednesday.
Early on, in his speech, Abang Johari acknowledged that there had been an increase in Covid-19 cases in Sarawak, but due to the high vaccination rate in the state, most of the infected cases were classified as Categories 1 and 2.
“The government is now studying that one day the Covid-19 pandemic can become endemic. This means we need to take care of ourselves and live in such conditions.
“But this endemic is like any other disease. It becomes normal. So, we are the only ones who have to take care of ourselves and pray that we can live healthily,” said Abang Johari.
