SABAH TODAY

BY SABAHTODAY REPORTERS
KOTA KINABALU: A Democratic Action Party (DAP) lawmaker, while thanking healthcare frontliners for vaccinating him under national immunisation program, raised concerns regarding the low registration rate for the Covid-19 vaccine by Sabahans.

“Yesterday I took the first jab of the Covid-19 vaccine, and I would like to thank KKM, PKD Kota Kinabalu and the other front liners for doing a good job in ensuring that the vaccine is delivered as scheduled, said Chan Foong Hin the Kota Kinabalu Member of Parliament.

“However, I am worried and am concerned about the low vaccine uptake rate in Sabah as compared to the rest of Malaysia.”

According to Jawatankuasa Khas Jaminan Akses Bekalan Vaksin Covid-19 (JKJAV), only 8.2% of Sabahans have registered for the vaccine as at 15th March 2021.

In Putrajaya, 69.5% of the people had registered for the vaccine. Even in Sarawak, 21.2% of the population has registered.

“Sabah’s 8.2% is the lowest in the country, even lower than Kelantan at 11.8%, which I find very disturbing,” said Chan.

Chan then remarked that despite being larger in land size and lesser population than Sabah, Sarawak has managed to inoculate more people. As at 15th March 2021, 32,028 Sarawakians have received the first dose, compared with only 30,433 Sabahans recorded.

“What is the cause of this low take up rate in Sabah? Is it due to lack of awareness? Is it due to technology barriers where many interior folks do not have access to the internet? Or is it due to lack of manpower to assist in registration?

“I don’t think it is due to any anti-vaccine movement, and therefore the authorities ought to do something serious about it and start going down to the ground and register these people,” Chan added.

He noted that Chief Minister Hajiji Noor was the first person to have been given the jab in Sabah on the 4th March and that Abang Johari (Sarawak CM) received the vaccine on 26th February.

“Both GRS and GPS are PN components parties and are part of the ruling government at federal level. As such, here is no reason why the people of Sabah should not be given at least equal priority as the people of Sarawak,” said Chan.

Chan added that DAP Sabah’s elected representatives have been actively setting up booths to assist the government in encouraging and helping the public register for Covid-19 vaccination.