Masidi, who is also the state’s spokesman for Covid-19, said this has to be done to ensure people in the interior or remote locations do not miss out on getting the vaccine.

“Due to internet connectivity problems and the fact that many of our rural folk are not internet savvy, the bulk of registrations is done manually,” he told FMT.

“The district Covid-19 immunisation task forces (CITFs) are doing it (in the respective villages).

“These registrations are not factored into the MySejahtera statistics, thus, showing a lower figure than the actual one.”

Masidi said though they may not have the actual figures for the manual registrations, such efforts are still ongoing.

The state opposition has questioned the reason behind the low number of Sabahans registering for the Covid-19 vaccine.

Sabah DAP’s Kapayan assemblyman Jannie Lasimbang was worried that with the government considering a registration deadline in June, it could mean that many Sabahans would be left out from getting immunised from the virus.

State PKR Youth deputy chief Fahrid Arastam also expressed his concern over the poor registration rate of only 11.03% as at March 27.

He, therefore, urged the government to beef up its efforts to track down those who have yet to register especially in rural and interior areas where internet access is lacking.