'Selangor needs its own vaccine stock to save state's economy'

 

The Selangor state government wants to procure its own stock of Covid-19 vaccines as they expect the National Immunisation Programme (NIP) to take a long time to complete especially for those under Phase 3.

Selangor Health exco Dr Siti Mariah Mahmud (above) said industries in the state couldn't wait that long and a delay could cripple the state's economy.

"For the people of Selangor, we encourage them to get their vaccine shots for free through MySejahtera but the industries have told us (the state government), that they can't wait too long to get the vaccine (for their workers).

"That's why we need to get our own vaccines," Siti Mariah said at a press conference today.

Yesterday, it was reported that companies in Selangor could register through the Selangkah app to procure Covid-19 vaccines.

"Selangor has to pay attention to one group that is very crucial to the state, and that is the workers and everyone knows Selangor relies heavily on the manufacturing industry," she said.

To date, she said, more than one million factory workers have been registered for vaccination by their companies.

She added that she has yet to receive statistics on the exact number of companies and factories that want to fast track getting their vaccines.

Siti Mariah said smaller industries that couldn't afford to pay for the vaccines would be able to get them for free.

She said factories opening and closing due to Covid-19 infections weren't just a loss for the companies concerned but for the people too.

Besides helping the various industries, Siti Mariah said vulnerable groups such as the elderly with comorbidities, the disabled, retirement home caregivers, dialysis centres and the Orang Asli would also get priority under the state's vaccination programme.

The Selangor menteri besar will announce further details of the state's programme, either by this week or next week, she added

The state's vaccination programme will use the Pfizer-BioNTech, Sinovac and AstraZeneca vaccines. - Mkini