Sabah Real Estate and Developers Association wants the authorities to consider all venues to speed up the vaccination process in the state.

Its president Datuk Chua Soon Ping said the success in achieving herd immunity will depend on fast tracking the inoculation process and using all venues to vaccinate the masses.

He said this should be done without risking the people from infection, such as overcrowding all existing vaccination centres.

“Vaccination is the only path for speedy economic recovery. Efforts must be taken to ensure the vaccination program can be done in a timely manner.

“This should be done without any other excuses as vaccine supply is no longer a major obstacle in Sabah,” he said here today.

Having said this, Chua said the government should intensify walk-ins, adding that the people should be allowed to be vaccinated in the event of absentees or registered for an appointment instantly.

However, he said crowd control should be the top priority in these centres to avoid overcrowding.

“Such centres attract a few thousand per day which must comply strictly with SOP otherwise it defeats the purpose,” said Chua, referring to the risk of mass infections happening at the local inoculation centres. 

Sabah health authorities should also allow more mobile units and private clinics to assist in the vaccination, said Chua.

He said the single-dose vaccine like CanSino, which is due to arrive in Sabah, should be considered for those living in hard to reach places as it cuts down time from having to return for a second dose.

On the treatment side, Chua said the authorities should consider utilising vacant hotels to house infected patients to deal with the sudden spike in patients in hospitals.

Innovative MCO compliance for family gathering or even living together as it is now the major concern in KL for major spread to family members.

Lock Down Is No Longer An Option

Datuk Chua also concurs with a recent statement by Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun that lock down will not be the solution to curb the rising infection cases in Sabah.

“The past few lock downs have almost crippled our economy, we should instead re-evaluate and enhance the SOPs while allowing economic activities to be continued.”

According to a prediction carried out using SIR Model and past data, Sabah’s daily infection cases may potentially hit 1,600 cases in two weeks time. Chua reiterates that SOPs are only effective when it is executed well and the public follows through.

“We can only get out of the situation if we speed up the vaccination progress and authorities must ensure proper deployment of SOPs. We must achieve the vaccination target of 48,300 doses in a day”.

Construction Industry To Start Vaccination

Towards this end, Chua also urged businesses linked to the construction industry to grab the opportunity to be vaccinated at the start of the Construction Industry Vaccination Programme of CIVac which will start on Aug 19.

CIVac will be held at the Sutera Magellan Resort and Chua said locals and foreign workers are welcome to register for the vaccination programme.

“All local and foreign workers are welcome to register and construction professionals like Architect, Engineers, surveyors are included and so are the rest of supply chain of building materials suppliers.

Special Priorities are given to the projects that are on-going and to ensure the works can resume after vaccination,” he said.