BASED on the rate of shots given out and the supply of Covid-19 vaccines, Sarawak is confident of vaccinating up to 65,000 people daily, said Deputy Chief Minister Douglas Uggah Embas.

He said that yesterday alone, 56,068 people were vaccinated, bringing the number of people inoculated in the state to 1,552,944, with 1,226,659 getting their first dose and 326,285 completing their second dose.

“Now we are trying to push our target to 60,000 daily to ensure we can achieve our target by the end of August. I am confident we can do 65,000 vaccinations a day,” he told a press conference after visiting the vaccination centre (PPV) at the Lundu Community Hall today.

The Sarawak Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) chairman said 313 PPVs had been set up throughout Sarawak, including in government hospitals and health clinics, private hospitals, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas), armed forces facilities, private clinics and mobile teams.

“With the machinery progressing smoothly, (coupled with) 430,000 doses of vaccines arriving every week as requested, and CanSino vaccines expected in mid-July, the vaccination (programme) can be carried much faster and earlier to the interior areas,” he said.

Uggah expressed satisfaction with the vaccination programme in Lundu, a predominantly rural district in the southernmost part of Sarawak where 76% of its population had received their first dose and 35% their second dose.

“They (the vaccination team) are confident that by August 15, they can complete the vaccination in Lundu district, and this is made possible with the cooperation of team members and the public,” he said.

He said mobile teams also went into the interior areas to reach those who are sick and unable to come to the PPV.

Meanwhile, on the African Swine Fever (ASF), Uggah said Sarawak is still free from the disease but precautionary measures had to be taken to prevent its spread, as ASF cases had been detected in the Indonesian province of Kalimantan, which borders Sarawak.

Saying ASF was nothing new to Sarawak as it has happened in the past, he advised Sarawakians not to bring in pigs and pork from the neighbouring country as a precautionary measure. – Bernama, July 6, 2021.