CITF orders 29 PPVs across Selangor to be closed

 

The Science, Technology and Innovation Ministry has instructed 29 vaccine administration centres (PPV) in Selangor to be shut down.

These closures will happen throughout the rest of August until the end of September across nine districts.

This comes as 73.8 percent of adults in the Klang Valley had been fully vaccinated against Covid-19 as of Aug 18.

CITF issued a letter to the Selangor government today with a list of which PPVs to close and when. Malaysiakini sighted the letter and CITF confirmed its contents as genuine.

According to the list, some PPVs had already been closed before the letter was issued.

Of the 29 PPVs, 17 will be closed this coming Monday (Aug 23).

In a comment to Malaysiakini, CITF stressed that most Klang Valley adults had already been inoculated.

It added that most PPVs it wanted to be closed were “small”.

“CITF confirms that the letter is genuine but would also like to highlight the fact that we have vaccinated most of the people in the Klang Valley.

“Also, most of the PPVs that are closed are small in capacity and have served its purpose,” it said.

The letter also offered an explanation for the move.

“The agreement to close PPVs [...] is to optimise resources in line with how the vaccination rate in Selangor has reached more than 90 percent and is expected to be completed in the near future,” CITF told the state government and other stakeholders.

It is unclear what the “more than 90 percent” figure refers to but 103.6 percent of adults in the Klang Valley have received their first vaccine dose.

This figure includes communities not captured in the latest census like undocumented people and non-residents.

Third highest

In a previous comment to Malaysiakini, the government task force had stressed that these closures were guided by vaccination rate data.

“CITF is also in the process of ensuring that no one living in Malaysia is left behind in the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme.

“To this end, CITF is looking at the importance of optimising existing resources as well as cost reductions while balancing the need to ensure there is no difficulty for those who have yet to get vaccinated to do so,” it had said.

The Klang Valley ranks third highest in terms of vaccination rate, after Labuan and Sarawak.

Most of the country lags far behind. Sabah, for example, has the lowest vaccination rate with just 25.8 percent of adults fully inoculated as of Aug 18.

Health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah previously said more general practitioners (GPs) may be roped in to help administer Covid-19 jabs.

The latest CITF letter did not state whether more GPs would be mobilised.

Neither did it state where recipients would be redirected if their initial PPV had been closed.- Mkini