KUCHING: Those aged 60 and above who have completed both doses of the Covid-19 vaccination and passed the required period after their second dose are urged to make an appointment to receive a booster dose.
Local Government and Housing Minister Datuk Seri Dr Sim Kui Hian said this group was at high-risk and vulnerable, adding that there were about 340,000 Sarawakians in this category.
He said those who had received two doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine earlier should receive the booster dose six months after their second dose, while those who had received two doses of the Sinovac vaccine earlier should receive their booster dose three months after their second dose.
He also said that only Pfizer-BioNTech booster doses were available for the time being.
“Please make your booster dose appointment with the nearest klinik kesihatan or at participating GP (general practitioner) clinics,” said the Sarawak Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) advisor in a Facebook post on Wednesday (Oct 20).
He said eligible recipients would be able to receive the booster dose for free at GP clinics as ProtectHealth Corporation would cover the vaccination fees.
“(I) suggest (that) the State Health Department (JKNS) partner with the Sarawak government to continue the public vaccination centres (PPVs) with appointments through MySejahtera.
“(This is) for us to vaccinate as many of our vulnerable Sarawakians as fast as possible, as long as they fulfil the eligible criteria, as unlike March to April, now we already have vaccines in Sarawak. Let’s just do it again,” he said.
Dr Sim said it was a timely decision by the medical experts from the National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency (NPRA) of the Health Ministry (MoH) and Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin in making these booster dose decisions.
“(This is) as Sarawak is the first state which completed vaccinations, hence it will be the first state which needs decisions for the booster dose.
“Looking forward to have more decisions for others not in this category,” he said.
