According to health minister Dr Adham Baba, Sarawak recorded 39 community clusters in the last four months, 21 of which came from social gatherings. He said there were also 17 active workplace clusters in the state at present.
Adham said he plans to have a special meeting with health officials and hospital directors in Sarawak later today to discuss the latest Covid-19 situation.
“Since Jan 9, the number of positive cases in Sarawak have shown an increasing trend. We need to ensure that help is provided and Sarawak can manage the spread of the virus,” he said in a joint press conference with science, technology and innovation minister Khairy Jamaluddin today.
Adham noted that the national infectivity rate, known as R-naught (R0), was currently at 1.06. This is despite the health ministry’s forecast that the number of daily cases would drop to an average of 500 by mid-May.
He said the current daily numbers were “not encouraging” and blamed it on the lack of compliance with the standard operating procedures.
Adham also announced that private hospitals can now register to take part in Phase Two and Three of the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme through www.protecthealth.com.my.
Khairy, who is the coordinating minister for the programme, explained that the country’s slow immunisation rate was due to slow delivery from vaccine manufacturers.
However, he said vaccine roll outs are expected to pick up from June onwards.
According to Khairy, the delay was due to issues in the international supply chain, with developed countries “booking” a large portion of the vaccines.
“The greed of these developed countries is one of the reasons why developing nations like Malaysia, and even countries like Australia, are facing issues with vaccine supply,” he said.
Khairy gave an assurance that there were enough doses to wrap up Phase One of the programme before the second phase begins on April 17.
“In April, we will be receiving more supply on a weekly basis, amounting to 712,530 doses.
“We are also looking at an additional 200,000 finished vaccines from Sinovac’s China factory. This increase in supply should be sufficient for us to end Phase One and start Phase Two,” he said.
Khairy added that those aged 60 and above will be given the Sinovac vaccine, based on trials conducted in Brazil.
He said the Covid-19 vaccine supply access guarantee special committee had reviewed the data, which showed a secondary efficacy rate of 83.7% for moderate cases and 100% for severe cases.
Commenting on Malaysia’s decision to send 50,000 doses of Covid-19 vaccine to Bosnia-Herzegovina, Khairy said the Cabinet had agreed to provide the Sinovac vaccine after its president sent a request to Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin.
“The delivery time (of the 50,000 doses of vaccine) will be based on our own immunisation programme. It will not impact our schedule.”
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