Selangor MB and excos vaccinated, state assemblypersons next

 

Assemblypersons in Selangor will be vaccinated in the first phase of the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme, said its Menteri Besar Amirudin Shari.

According to the state's top official, the people's representatives are considered frontliners as they have been tasked to manage the second and third phases of the immunisation programme later.

"Why are they considered frontliners? It is because they will manage the vaccine in the second phase which will begin in April or May, as well as the third phase in July or August, up until February next year," he said in a media conference today.

He added that the assemblypersons will receive the vaccine together with district officers and heads of local councils.

Selangor has 55 assemblypersons other than Amirudin who is the Sungai Tua representative.

Earlier, Amirudin was among around 35 people who received the vaccine at Shah Alam Hospital. Other individuals include Deputy Health Minister Dr Noor Azmi Ghazali, state ex officio members, state exco members and state security council committee members.

They are expected to receive the second dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine on March 18.

He said the state would prepare 78,000 vaccines for selected frontliners including the police, army, and school teachers.

Meanwhile, responding to a media inquiry on the progress of Selangor purchasing its own vaccines for the people, Amir said the process was on the right track and he expected to receive up to 5 million vaccines in May.

"The progress is quite good. I have to discuss further with a few groups. Maybe we can get our vaccines as early as May.

"Of course, again, this is not a process to score political points. This is for the recovery of the country," he added.

The state's focus concerning the purchase, he said, is to ensure that it is not redundant and does not overlap with the programme set by the federal government.

"As of now, we have a good collaboration and teamwork with federal and state agencies at every level," he said.

Last week, The Edge reported Amirudin as saying that Selangor's intention to purchase vaccines was to reduce Putrajaya's burden.

He had noted that so far only Selangor and Sarawak intended to buy the vaccines for the people in their respective states. - Mkini