Mobile Covid-19 vaccination trial in KL
Tuesday, June 1st, 2021 at News
Khairy says 30 mobile trucks will be deployed in a week's time to vaccinate those in densely populated areas and construction sites
by ASILA JALIL / pic by TMR FILE
A PILOT programme featuring Covid-19 vaccination mobile trucks will be rolled out in densely populated areas and construction sites in Kuala Lumpur (KL) to curb the spread of the virus which breached the 9,000 daily mark last week.
National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme (NCIP) Coordinating Minister Khairy Jamaluddin (picture) said the programme will commence in about a week's time.
"If successful, we will expand it to other states," he said at the weekly Covid-19 Immunisation Task Force media briefing yesterday.
The Federal Territories Ministry is aiming to roll out 30 mobile trucks, where about 100 vaccinations can be executed in a day via a single truck.
As for drive-through Covid-19 vaccinations, Khairy said the task force is coming out with the guidelines to ensure the implementation can be done smoothly.
"There needs to be guidelines for safety, storage and observation.
"Once these are in place, the states can start implementing drive-through vaccinations."
The coordinating minister had said on Sunday that the government will be rolling out drive-through vaccinations for the public after the success of its pilot project held at Universiti Sains Malaysia in Kubang Kerian, Kelantan.
Regarding media personnel, he said 5,867 names have been sent for checks to receive the appointments for vaccination.
"We would be able to give their vaccination appointments by early-June."
As of yesterday, a total of 12,117,091 individuals have registered for the vaccination programme with 2,913,009 having been inoculated.
As of May 30, registration for the second phase of the NCIP stood at 3,871,725 where of the total, 60% or 2,114,839 are senior citizens.
The vaccination rate in the country has also reached 100,000 doses a day since May 27. Khairy said the task force aims to achieve 150,000 doses per day by end-June.
Malaysia will also receive three shipments of the Pfizer Inc-BioNTech SE this week, which include 222,300 doses tomorrow, 191,880 doses on Thursday and 30,420 doses on Friday, totalling 444,600 doses.
Khairy, who is also the science, technology and innovation minister, said Malaysia will also receive 668,520 doses of the Sinovac vaccine this week, which have been packaged with Lot Release approval.
He said the surge of Covid-19 cases in the country has raised awareness among the public on the need for protection against the virus, hence the increase in vaccination registration.
As for those who failed to show up for their appointments, Khairy said the task force will try to reach them and encourage them to get vaccinated, instead of issuing a compound.
Commenting on the issue surrounding the number of general practitioner (GP) clinics that are taking part in the immunisation programme, Khairy noted that not all GPs want to participate.
To date, the task force has registered 2,467 GP clinics and of the total, 1,482 have been given letters of appointment.
"It requires some preparation from the GP clinics. Not all of them want to participate and only about 2,000 signed up.
"Of that total, 1,665 have done the training, which includes training for storage and for administering the vaccine, which is a little bit different as it uses special syringes."
Previously, the Federation of Private Medical Practitioners' Association Malaysia has called for mass vaccination to be held at all public and private clinics and hospitals in the country.
The federation said there are 7,000 GPs and thousands of Klinik Kesihatan that can be roped in for the programme.
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Tuesday, June 1st, 2021