THE Covid-19 immunisation effort for the transport sector gets a head start today with the opening of a vaccination centre in the heart of the country’s maritime operations in Port Klang.

Transport is the second economic sector prioritised for vaccination after manufacturing, under the national immunisation programme .

The Covid-19 Immunisation Task Force on Monday approved the Transport Ministry’s request for jabs for 51,500 transport workers.

“This includes seafarers, port workers, airport personnel and those in the land, rail and air transport services,” said Transport Minister Dr Wee Ka Siong at a press conference at the Port Klang vaccination centre (PPV) today.

He said 10,000 seafarers and port workers will be the first to get their doses at the PPV which is managed by the Port Klang Authority.

Wee said the PPV is expected to dispense shots to 1,000 people per day.

The programme is expected to inoculate 18,596, or 53%, of the country’s 59,155 port supervisors and workers.

Aviation workers will get their shots on July 5 at the KLIA main terminal, said Wee. The plan will see 22,243 airport workers, airline staff and cargo personnel vaccinated.

Next in line are 19,259 rail and bus workers.

Meanwhile, Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said the vaccination by sector effort will not have an effect on the ongoing national immunisation programme.

“We vaccinated more than 268,000 people yesterday and as of today 15.1% have received their first dose while 5.8% have been fully vaccinated,” said coordinating minister for the vaccination effort.

He said the government is targeting workers due to the increasing number of infections stemming from workplaces.

“We are vaccinating the transport sector, after the manufacturing sector, as ports are open and operating 24/7.

“We will start on the construction sector on July 1. Our aim is to target the essential sectors that are operating before we move on to other industries,” said Khairy.

As of today, 4.7 million people have received their first doses at 521 vaccination centres. – June 25, 2021.