PUTRAJAYA has activated phase 4 of the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme, which involves the economic sector, said Khairy Jamaluddin.

“This is important for us to strike a balance between lives and livelihoods,” the coordinating minister for the programme said in the weekly press conference today.

He said the vaccination programme will begin with critical industries allowed to operate under the ongoing full lockdown.

The vaccination programme, which is part of the disease control phase, will be rolled out this week with key economic sectors deemed as the backbone for the economy such as manufacturing.

This will be then expanded to other sectors such as construction, plantation, retail and hospitality.

He added that the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (Miti) will coordinate the setting up of a special vaccination centre for industries and 30,000 doses of vaccines will be allocated this month for this purpose.

Citing concerning statistics, Khairy said there were 11 workplace clusters with some 200 active cases reported yesterday.

“That is why we have made the decision to roll out the disease control phase as soon as possible among industries to ensure that we can control workplace clusters to contain the spread of Covid-19 virus,” he added.

On a separate note, Khairy said 250 out of some 5,000 media personnel nationwide have been vaccinated so far and 700 appointments have been given out.

He said more appointments will be given out this week to members of the press.

He added that the Covid-19 Immunisation Task Force (CITF) will also expedite the second dose appointments for members of the press who opted for the AstraZeneca vaccine.

“CITF will have to balance the vaccination needs of media personnel with senior citizens, the differently abled and those with comorbidities who will be prioritised in Phase 2 of the NIP,” he added.

Today, 38 media practitioners from 47 local and foreign news agencies who will be covering the Tokyo Olympics received their jabs. – June 14, 2021.