Sarawak gets Putrajaya’s nod to buy 1 million doses of Sinovac vaccine

Sarawak Chief Minister Abang Johari Openg today said the state is preparing to buy one million doses of China’s Sinovac vaccine for Covid-19 after receiving the green light from Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin.

Speaking at a press conference in Bintulu, he said he received approval for the move during a meeting with Muhyiddin two weeks ago.

“I met with the prime minister two weeks ago to ask for permission to buy the vaccines for Sarawak and I would like to thank him for giving consent.”

He said Sarawak would buy 500,000 doses for its first phase and another 500,000 doses for the second.

He said Muhyiddin had also given approval for Sarawak to use gazetted private hospitals as vaccination centres to expedite the vaccination process, especially in urban areas.

He added that corporate companies in the state would be allowed to arrange for their staff to be vaccinated.

“Private companies can contact the approved (gazetted) private hospital, and this hospital will vaccinate the company’s staff. This includes industrial and plantation companies.

“But they have to organise themselves,” he said, adding that the vaccine would be provided for free by the state government.

“Perhaps they will only need to pay for the services provided by the hospital.”

He said hospitals and private companies are currently negotiating a standard price.

“These are the issues that I discussed with the prime minister and I thank the prime minister and the federal government for their approval,” he said.