(From right) Dr Annuar, Lau, Siaw (background), Dr Teh, Sempurai, Ting and others welcoming the arrival of the shipment of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine at Sibu Division Pharmacy office at Jalan Awang Ramli Amit.
SIBU (Feb 25): Some 13,000 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine was delivered here today to be administered to about 6,000 frontliners in the central region, said Sibu Divisional Disaster Management Committee (SDDMC) coordinator Dr Annuar Rapaee.
He said of the 6,000 frontliners, 3,576 are in Sibu division, while the rest are located in Sarikei, Mukah and Kapit divisions.
Dr Annuar, who is Assistant Minister of Local Government and Housing, said the vaccination for Sibu division will start tomorrow (Feb 26) at Lanang Health Clinics, Sibujaya Health Clinics and Sibu Hospital for the Ministry of Health (MoH) staff and followed by other frontliners.
He also said other divisions will collect the vaccines on their own later.
“The shipment that arrived here today comprises two doses, where after the first dose, the second dose will be administered 21 days later,” Dr Annuar told reporters after the arrival of the vaccine at Sibu Division Pharmacy office at Jalan Awang Ramli Amit here.
Among those present were SDDMC chairman and Sibu Resident Charles Siaw, Senator Robert Lau, Sibu Divisional Health Officer Dr Teh Jo Hun, Sibu Municipal Council (SMC) chairman Clarence Ting, Sibu Rural District Council (SRDC) chairman Sempurai Petrus Ngelai and DSP Ariffin Bahar.
Dr Annuar also said there was a plan to turn Sibu Indoor Stadium into a vaccination center but this will be for the second and third phases of the vaccination as a larger space is required for mass vaccination to be carried out.
Meanwhile, it was a momentous occasion for Sibu as the special vehicle carrying the vaccines arrived at Sibu Division Pharmacy office at 2.36pm.
The vehicle left Kuching for Sibu at 6.20am today.
The race to vaccinate 2.2 million people in Sarawak began with a Raya Airways Boeing 767-200 flight TH543 transporting the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine touching down at Kuching International Airport’s cargo area at about 6.18pm Wednesday evening.
Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas had said the state’s fight against Covid-19 will kick off this Friday with a total of 23,400 doses of the long-awaited Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine to be administered to frontliners.
He had also said the vaccination would be carried out in Kuching and Sibu with Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg the first to be given the jab.
State Health Director Dr Chin Zin Hing in a statement today, said while the first phase of the vaccination programme would be rolled out for frontliners, the second phase would cover senior citizens aged 60 and above and comorbid Malaysians, who suffer from chronic diseases such as hypertension and diabetes.
Under the second phase, he said individuals would be given the jab at government healthcare facilities and the designated community halls as well as selected private healthcare facilities and homes for the aged.
“Phase three will involve all Malaysians in Sarawak who are eligible and aged 18 and above.
“Under this phase, vaccination will be carried out as an outreach manner whereby community halls will be identified as vaccination centres apart from government healthcare facilities and selected private healthcare facilities,” he added.