SARAWAK has changed its mind about rejecting the AstraZeneca vaccine and will now offer it to volunteers on a first-come, first-serve basis, Deputy Chief Minister Douglas Uggah said today.

He said the state disaster management committee had reversed its decision not to use the vaccine after reviewing the report of the Sarawak Covid-19 vaccine advisory group (ScoVAG).

“After the review and presentation, the CITF Sarawak (Covid-19 Immunisation Task Force Sarawak) has decided to allow the use of AstraZeneca to complement the state’s Covid-19 vaccination rollout programme,” Uggah said in a statement.

He said initially, SCoVAG had recommended the vaccine be administered only to those above 60 years old in urban areas. This was because there were “very low overall severe adverse events of 6.5 per million doses and the high benefit to risk ratio among those above 60 years old”.

However, he said, science had to be balanced with the reality that many people were wary of the  AstraZeneca shots

About 8,000 people had cancelled their registration when the federal government announced that the AstraZeneca jab was among the vaccines used in the national vaccination campaign, he said.

“There was also increased vaccine hesitancy, with some people not showing up for their vaccination appointments.”

Uggah said as a result, Sarawak had opted not to use the AstraZeneca vaccine.

“The Sarawak government did not want the Covid-19 vaccination programme in Sarawak to be jeopardised by the fear and hesitancy due to the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine.”

Two recent developments caused the state government to review its decision –  the overwhelming response when the shots were offered in Selangor and Kuala Lumpur, and the findings of an online survey on May 4 that showed the majority of respondents approved of the vaccine’s use.

In the survey, 69.4% of 1,037 respondents were in favour of giving Sarawak folk the option of AstraZeneca, though only 52.9% actually wanted to receive the shots.

“Given this new insight and willingness of the people in Sarawak to have the choice of the AstraZeneca vaccine, the CITF Sarawak has agreed to let the vaccine be used in Sarawak on a voluntary, first-come, first-serve basis, and by appointment.”

Uggah said the vaccine would be supplied to Sarawak by the national Covid-19 immunisation task force and separate vaccination centres would be set up for its administration. – May 18, 2021.