TANJUNG MALIM, July 25 — The supply of the single-dose CanSino vaccine in Sabah will facilitate the vaccination process in the state, especially in interior areas which are facing logistics and communications problems.
Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Economy) Datuk Arthur Joseph Kurup said the supply of the CanSino vaccine was an advantage as recipients did not have to travel back and forth to get their second dose.
“The Health Ministry’s staff at the vaccination centres also do not have to travel twice to remote locations to administer the vaccines.
“Among the problems faced by the residents to receive their vaccine previously are logistics and communications. It also resulted in the vaccine registration rate in Sabah being among the lowest in Malaysia,” he said after handing over food basket aid to students from Sabah at the Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris (UPSI) here, today.
Arthur, who is also the Pensiangan Member of Parliament, said the federal government’s effort to give priority to Sabah to get the vaccine supply could help raise the vaccination rate in the state and curb the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Meanwhile, commenting on the food basket aid, Arthur said they were given to Sabah students at UPSI who could not return home for the semester break due to certain factors.
He hoped the aid could alleviate their burden and reduce the students’ movement during the pandemic.
A student, Rolende Prem, 21, from Beaufort who has not returned home for almost two years expressed his happiness after receiving the food basket.
“I have not returned home to see my parents due to the rather weak internet connection in my village and financial problem. However, this aid is a boon to students from Sabah who are stranded at UPSI,” he said.
Previously, the Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said Sabah would be among the first states to receive the single-dose CanSino vaccine when three million doses of the vaccine arrive in Malaysia next month.
