THE first delivery of the long-awaited single-dose CanSino Covid-19 vaccine to Sarawak will be in the middle of next month, state disaster management committee chairman Douglas Uggah said today.

He said the state had requested 650,000 doses of the Chinese vaccine from the federal government for use in its vast, sparsely populated and widely scattered hinterland.

Speaking to journalists after visiting the Covid-19 vaccination centre at the Spaoh community hall in rural Betong, some 130km from Kuching, today, he said the vaccine is deemed most suitable among all the approved vaccines for use in the rural areas.

He said dispensing vaccines that require two doses for full efficacy, such as those by Pfizer-BioNTech, AstraZeneca and Sinovac, would require vaccination teams making two challenging trips to rural areas to administer the jabs.

“The CanSino vaccine is very much suitable for our people living deep in the interiors like the Penans,” Uggah, who is also the state’s deputy chief minister said, alluding to the outbreak of the infection among Penan settlements deep in the Baram river basin.

“Our medical teams will only need to visit them once to vaccinate them, thus cutting down on logistics, transportation and other costs.”

Uggah said due to the outbreak among the Penans in several remote settlements, such as at Long Luteng, Long Kevok, Long Latie, Long Layun, Long Lunyim and Long Tepen, and the delivery of the CanSino yet to arrive, medical teams that were deployed to these places are vaccinating the Penans with the other Chinese-produced vaccine, Sinovac.

The Sinovac vaccine is also administered to the ethnic Ibans in longhouses elsewhere in the Miri and Kapit divisions, Uggah added.

On the Betong division vaccination programme, Uggah, who is also the Bukit Saban assemblyman, said if the current pace of daily vaccination is kept, the division could complete its drive by the end of next month.

“I was told by Betong division health officer Dr Johnny Pangkas that to date, 35,312 people had been given the first dose and 7,236 the second dose.

“I am confident, based on the achievement and the pace at which our front-liners are moving, Betong division can complete its vaccination programme by the end of next month.” – June 23, 2021.