THE Health Ministry will replicate Labuan’s Covid-19 vaccination success in the Klang Valley, director-general of health Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said. 

He said the higher vaccination rates in Labuan have marked fewer coronavirus cases, including Delta variant ones. 

Labuan has seen more than 50% of the population receiving their second Covid-19 shot. 

Noor Hisham said that mirroring the vaccination success and a proper public health intervention could bring down the cases in the Klang Valley. 

“At one time, Labuan reported 1,340 cases in a week and we identified they were infected with the Delta variant. 

“So, we implemented public health intervention and started vaccination, where 52% of the population have now received their second dose of the vaccine, effectively bringing down the number of new infections. 

“Today, Labuan only reported 26 new cases. 

“We have to use this method in the Klang Valley to reduce cases,” Noor Hisham said at a press conference today.

He said the success is clearly seen in Labuan, where at one stage, the intensive care unit bed usage was at 120%, but now it has declined greatly. 

“At one point, ICU bed usage in Labuan exceeded 120% and we added 22 more ICU beds, field hospitals and Covid-19 quarantine and low-risk treatment centre (PKRC),” he said.

“And we see now, the ICU cases have declined to 55%, where of the 22 beds allocated specially for Covid-19 patients, only nine are being used. There is also a reduction in the number of patients admitted to the hospital and PKRC.”

Noor Hisham said the government is doing everything it can to ramp up vaccination in the Klang Valley and it plans to vaccinate the total population there with at least one dose by August 1.

“More than 3.1 million people in the Klang Valley have received their first shot while the remaining five million will be given their vaccination as soon as possible, as we plan to inoculate all Klang Valley residents by August 1, at least the first dose,” he said. – July 15, 2021.