KUCHING: The state will roll out booster vaccine shots soon, revealed Sarawak Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) advisor Datuk Seri Dr Sim Kui Hian.
He said the formal announcement of the policy under the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme (NCIP) would be made in the near future.
Dr Sim said the matter was one of the areas identified during a video conference by the SDMC and the State Health Department with Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin and Ministry officials on Friday (Sept 17).
“Three areas were identified. First is to scale up the action to stop the community transmission of Covid-19 through testing and isolations.
“Next is to administer the third dose of Covid-19 vaccine or booster doses in stages according to priority groups.
“Finally, it is to allocate additional medical facilities, especially critical care, since there is inequality in distribution of resources compared to West Malaysia,” he said in a Facebook post on Friday.
Dr Sim said Khairy, who was scheduled to visit Sarawak to assess the Covid-19 situation in the state, was unable to make the trip.
“Sarawak is the first state to be in post-vaccination with its high vaccination rate. The surge (in Covid-19 cases) was due to the spread of the Delta variant in Malaysia.
“Though the cases showed decreased severity, mortality, intensive care unit (ICU) ventilation, we still need to monitor new cases closely,” he said.
The Local Government and Housing Minister also did not dismiss the possibility of forming a Health Ministry Task Force in Sarawak.
“This is to allow the Sarawak government to continue its close collaboration with the Health Ministry and its agencies,” he explained.
