Selvax lending 500k vaccine doses for other states

 

The Selangor government is lending its Covid-19 vaccine stocks from its Selvax vaccination scheme to other states as the frontlines of the battle against the pandemic begin to shift outside the Klang Valley.

In a statement today, Selangor Menteri Besar Amirudin Shari said the state government has agreed to provide 500,000 vaccine doses to other states through the federally run National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme.

This is in view of the record-high number of Covid-19 cases today, he said, while 98 percent of Selangor adults have received at least one dose of the vaccine as of yesterday.

“In light of this situation, Selangor has agreed to lend 500,000 vaccine doses purchased for use in Selvax, to the National Covid-19 Immunisation Task Force (CITF) so it could be used in places that are experiencing a spike in cases coupled with low vaccination rates.

“The National CITF will return the vaccine doses later in preparation for the possibility that booster doses may become necessary,” he said in a statement today.

R-number below 1.00 first time in months

Selangor recorded an average of 6,674 cases per day in the past seven days including today, or 99.38 cases per 100,000 people. On both accounts, these figures are the highest in the country.

However, there are signs that the situation in Selangor has made a turn for the better since hitting its peak of 8,792 cases a day on Aug 6.

Covid-19 cases in the state are slowly trending downwards, and the effective reproduction number (R_t) of the disease fell below 1.00 for the first time in months yesterday.

A figure above 1.00 would indicate an outbreak that is still increasing its pace, while a figure below that suggests the outbreak is slowing down. The number yesterday was 0.99.

This followed an intensive vaccination campaign throughout the Greater Klang Valley region that culminated in Operation Surge Capacity in late July, which saw nearly all eligible Klang Valley residents receiving at least their first vaccine dose by the end of the month.

At the same time, however, the outbreak has been accelerating in most states outside the Klang Valley. with new records being set every few days.

Sabah, for example, has the lowest vaccination rate in the country and has broken its record for three consecutive days. It recorded 2,583 cases today.

Pahang also reported record-high cases today, while Penang did the same yesterday.

Hybrid assembly session in the works

On a different matter, Amirudin said Selangor is making preparations for its upcoming state legislative assembly sitting to begin on Monday, where among the motions to be tabled include amendments to the standing orders to allow hybrid sitting to take place.

“This is also a preparation to face future pandemics or other challenges that would make it difficult for proceedings to be held physically.

“The Selangor state assembly will be conducted in line with standard operating procedures and with screening so that it can be conducted safely and smoothly for the sake of all Selangorians,” he said.

Previously, despite frequent testing and nearly all MPs being vaccinated, a Covid-19 outbreak occurred that infected 102 people including 19 while the Parliament was in session. - Mkini