30 mobile vaccination trucks to be deployed in KL

Thirty mobile vaccination trucks will be deployed in People’s Housing Project areas and construction sites in the federal capital to speed up the process of administering Covid-19 vaccines, says Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Khairy Jamaluddin.

Khairy, who is in charge of the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme, said the pilot truck project would be implemented by the federal territories ministry in areas with high population densities as well as construction sites which will remain in operation during the lockdown to begin tomorrow.

Each mobile truck is capable of administering 100 doses, he said at a joint press conference on the national immunisation programme with Health Minister Dr Adham Baba today.

Khairy also said registration for Covid-19 vaccine jabs had increased by almost 50% to reach 12,117,091 sign-ups so far by those aged 18 and above.

“This sharp increase in registrations was due to the spike in Covid-19 cases. So, people have gained awareness to get vaccinated for protection, and this has become a pressing matter,” he said.

Khairy said the vaccination rate is targeted to hit 150,000 doses daily beginning June, compared to around 100,000 doses per day since May 27.

He said at the moment, an average of 80% of those given appointments show up for their vaccination.

“The (remaining) 20% fail to turn up for various reasons, including transport problems, indifference, and wishing to be jabbed later.

“We have decided to send the appointments earlier to states and districts. This is to ensure that those given appointments will turn up,” he said, adding that the slots arising from no-shows would be given to people on the waiting list.

Asked on developments regarding vaccine procurement, Khairy said the CanSinoBIO and Sputnik V vaccines are being evaluated by the National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency (NPRA).

“For the CanSinoBIO vaccine, the supplier gave the answers and information requested by NPRA last week, and we have asked for it to be sped up,” he said, adding that for Sputnik V, Adham would sign an agreement with Duopharma Biotech Bhd for the purpose of procurement.