KUCHING: The acceleration of Covid-19 vaccines in Sarawak is not a political decision but a legal requirement and for the sake of public health, said Khairy Jamaluddin.
The National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme (Pick) Coordinating Minister mentioned that by law, Sarawak would need to hold the state election within 60 days after the Emergency Ordinance ends on Aug 1.
“We cannot afford to risk having another wave hitting, not only Sarawak but the entire country if Sarawakians are not fully vaccinated by the time of the election.
“With the timing of the election, I want to ensure that all Sarawakians are fully vaccinated as it is a concern of public health,” he said during a press conference in conjunction with his working visit in Kuching yesterday.
Khairy explained that the PICK commitment to the Sarawak government was not at the expense of the vaccine plans in other states.
“I can give my assurance to those in red states such as Selangor, Penang, Johor and so on that the federal government will also be picking up the vaccination pace to them and all states,” he said.
On another note, he also assured the state government that the federal government would deliver 4.4 million doses by the end of Aug.
“This is more than enough to cover Sarawak’s adult population which is 2.84 million. However, we send an additional number of doses for cases such as foreign workers, undocumented immigrants and others,” he said.
Given this assurance, Sarawak Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) chairman Datuk Douglas Uggah Embas said the government would not need to purchase its own vaccines.
“As the minister (Khairy) has promised, we will take his word that they will be giving us all the supplies that we require, hence, there would not be a need to purchase vaccines from outside,” he explained.
