Sabah Housing and Real Estate Developers Association praised the effort done by the federal and state government in giving priority to Sabah in the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme.

Its president Datuk Chua Soon Ping said compliment is due for Sabah chief minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor, Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Datuk Khairy Jamaluddin and others involved in making sure Sabah be given focus in the inoculation programme.

He said the boost would definitely ensure Sabah could achieve herd immunity before the end of 2021.

“The arrival of one-shot CanSino and with Sabah given much priority in the inoculation programme is indeed very good news.”

“This is especially crucial for those in the rural and far-flung areas where locals find it difficult to register via the MySejahtera app and therefore, risk not being immunised,” he said in a statement here today.

Chua said this in response to the state announcement that Sabah would be given priority in the delivery of the single-shot CanSino vaccine.

Malaysia is expected to receive 3 million doses next month which the first consignment would be given to Sabah exclusively.

In the effort to vaccinate those in hard to reach areas, Chua said the government can replicate similar efforts to reach out to people during elections.

He said the agencies had the resources and manpower to reach out to voters even in far-flung areas to get votes and therefore, the same approach should be made on the vaccination. 

The health authorities could include the use of helicopters as in the flying medical doctor services and mobile health units to cover the far-flung areas, he said.

“The previous poll has provided authorities with the information of age and location of those eligible for vaccines which are crucial in the vaccination,” he said.

Chua also agreed in converting tour buses into mobile vaccination units or to use them to shuttle those scheduled for a vaccination.

He also said all the workers at the vaccination centres must be vaccinated to avert mass infections at such venues as what happened in Selangor recently.

Towards this end, Chua said the people must learn to accept that the virus will still be amongst the people even after achieving herd immunity.

But with vaccines, the impact and fatality rate will be at a minimum, he added.

“As of today, Sabah recorded 818 newly infected cases. The trend indicates we may potentially surpass last year’s daily high of 1,200 cases if actions were not taken immediately. Everyone must work together to flatten the curve and we must all adhere strictly to the SOP implemented by the authorities” he said.