Sabah kicks off public-private vaccination initiative

 

Chief minister Hajiji Noor (second from right) watching an industrial worker getting his first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine at a vaccination centre in Kota Kinabalu today. (CM Dept pic)

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah kicked off the public-private partnership immunisation programme (Pikas) today.

This will target 18,000 workers from 407 factories registered with the state government.

Chief minister Hajiji Noor said the workers are from factories located in Kota Kinabalu and the nearby districts of Putatan, Penampang, Papar and Tuaran.

“Through Pikas, the government will roll out the vaccines for free while the private sector manages the vaccine administration centre (PPV), including private medical services,” he told reporters after visiting the Pikas PPV at the Sabah International Convention Centre here.

“The cost of managing the PPV will be borne by the private sector to minimise government funding.”

There are two types of PPVs being used under Pikas, namely public PPVs involving convention and exhibition centres or hotels, and on-site PPVs at factory premises.

Hajiji said employers will be paying for the vaccination cost of their employees, adding that they are not allowed to deduct this cost from the employees’ salary even though the employee might no longer be with the company after getting the first shot.

“While Pikas is being implemented, the government is committed to ensuring the most vulnerable groups are vaccinated and those who have registered under the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme (PICK) remain a priority,” he said.

Hajiji said companies interested in participating in the Pikas programme could get more information through www.miti.gov.my.

An initiative by the international trade and industry ministry, Pikas was launched to speed up the country’s vaccination process with the aim of vaccinating at least two million workers in the manufacturing sector by the third quarter of this year.

Launched as Phase 4 of PICK, Pikas was introduced following suggestions from the industrial sector, chambers of commerce as well as small and medium enterprises wishing to speed up the vaccination process of workers at their workplaces. - FMT