Allow all state govts to get their own vaccines, says Lim

 

In the wake of the Sarawak government securing a million doses of the Sinovac Covid-19 vaccine, veteran DAP leader Lim Kit Siang has called for the federal administration to allow all state governments to do likewise.

"Yesterday, the Sarawak government announced that it will receive 500,000 does of Sinovac Covid-19 vaccine within a week, and that it had procured an additional 500,000 doses of Sinovac.

"As Sarawak is allowed to procure its own Covid-19 vaccine, the federal government should end its monopoly on vaccine procurement and all state governments should be allowed to procure their own Covid-19 vaccines to provide free for the people in their respective states," Lim said in a statement today.

Malaysia is in a race against time in the critical battle of ‘vaccine vs virus’ to accelerate the national vaccination rollout, added the Iskandar Puteri MP.

"One of the top priority strategies in the war against Covid-19 pandemic must be to accelerate the national vaccination rollout in Malaysia which is too slow and tardy, especially as various Covid-19 variants had injected a new urgency into the whole Covid-19 scenario.

"The new virus is a moving target.

"Co-ordinating Minister Khairy Jamaluddin should ensure that the National Immunisation Programme is accelerated to take account of this new factor," said Lim.

Yesterday, Sarawak Public Health and Housing Assistant Minister Dr Annuar Rapaee made the announcement of Sarawak's procurement although he did not reveal the total cost involved in purchasing the vaccine.

“The vaccine will also be given free by the state government to private hospitals to help speed up Sarawak’s immunisation programme,” he said.

There were 36 fatalities yesterday bringing the death toll to 1,902 while there are 41,889 active cases.

The new deaths were recorded in Selangor (8), Penang (6), Sarawak (5), Kedah (5), Kuala Lumpur (4), Perak (3), Negeri Sembilan (2), Terengganu (2), and Pahang (1).

For a detailed breakdown, please refer to our Covid-19 tracker site. - Mkini