Vaccination centre for SME workers forced to close as supply runs out

 

The private sector vaccination centre in Seberang Perai will reopen only after it has received 10,000 new Sinovac doses it ordered from the government.

GEORGE TOWN: A vaccination centre for small businesses at Seberang Perai has been forced to close after a week in operation as an order for 10,000 more doses of the Sinovac Covid-19 vaccine has yet to be received.

The centre at the Pearl View Hotel in Perai has been administering 1,500 doses daily for workers of small and medium enterprises (SME) as part of the government’s public-private partnership Covid-19 industry immunisation programme (Pikas).

The 10,000 doses it received last week have run out.

The centre caters primarily to SMEs in Seberang Perai with a workforce of 20 to 100 for RM30 per worker. More than 300 businesses have signed up for the vaccine.

Seberang Perai SME Association president Francis Wong, a co-organiser at the vaccination centre, said it had ordered another 10,000 doses through the international trade and industry ministry (Miti).

He said they were only able to order 10,000 doses at one time because of limited funds.

Wong also said a technical glitch caused today’s appointments to be doubled booked, with some companies being told to show up but their names not officially on the register.

He said 1,500 employees from 13 companies had been scheduled to be vaccinated today, but another 934 from 13 more companies had also been mistakenly given slots.

The centre, therefore, had no choice but to close, given the delay in the supply of vaccines.

“We have been told the vaccines will arrive in two to three weeks although we still have to bear the cost of rental at the hotel, the fridge for the vaccines and other equipment,” he said.

The Pikas vaccination programme is meant for private sector workers, especially in factories, managed by Protecthealth Corporation, a health ministry company funded by private companies who want to vaccinate workers en masse.

Vaccines are free for workers, but the private companies running the PPV have to bear the cost of the facility and fees for medical workers.

FMT has contacted Miti for comment. - FMT