KUCHING: Sarawak has submitted a letter to the Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Khairy Jamaluddin conveying its intention to purchase Covid-19 vaccines if the vaccines provided by the federal government could not meet the state’s vaccination schedule.
State Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) chairman Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas said Sarawak has planned for complete vaccination of its eligible population by the end of August.
“I have sent a letter today to Khairy stating the state’s intention to purchase Covid-19 vaccines if the vaccines provided by the federal government could not meet the state’s vaccination schedule.
“By the end of August, we hope all qualified and willing Sarawakians to be vaccinated. However, that would depend on the supply of vaccines.
“We saw in the newspaper that YB Khairy said the state governments can apply to purchase their own Covid-19 vaccines and he has not receive a letter from Sarawak, therefore we’re sending it to him today,” he said in his daily Covid-19 press conference today.
On Tuesday, Khairy, who is the minister in charge of the national Covid-19 immunisation programme, said the federal government had no objections to states wanting to purchase their own vaccines, but the issue was availability.
“If the states are able to procure the vaccines, I have no issue with that, and we can even give permission – but at this moment, there is a problem of supply,” he said.
The Sarawak government had shown its interest in buying its own vaccines to complement the supply from the federal government in order to ensure that its eligible population would be vaccinated by the end of August this year.
