KUCHING, Nov 28 — Datuk Seri Dr Sim Kui Hian said today that the Sarawak government under the leadership of Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Openg will ensure all Sarawakians have access to Covid-19 vaccine once available.

The Local Government and Housing Minister said the vaccine should be made available to Sarawakians in batches, with the inaugural batch expected in the first quarter of next year.

"We have to engage medical experts to assess whether which age group is more suitable to the vaccine because certain vaccine may not be efficient to certain group,” he said when met by journalists after attending a function at the Kidney Association of Sarawak (KAS)-National Kidney Foundation (NKF) Dialysis Centre at Jalan Tun Ahmad Zaidi Adruce here.

Earlier, Dr Sim witnessed the handover of RM40,000 from OCBC Bank Kuching Branch to Rotary Club of Kuching (RCK) and KAS for a new haemodialysis machine for a new haemodialysis centre in Kota Samarahan that is expected to be operational soon.

Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin yesterday announced that Putrajaya had signed a preliminary agreement with pharmaceutical company Pfizer to procure 12.8 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine to meet the immunisation needs of 20 per cent or 6.4 million Malaysians.

Asked whether every Sarawakian would be immunised against Covid-19, Dr Sim said the chief minister had pledged so.

Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah, during his winding up speech in the State Legislative Assembly (DUN) on November 13, said the state government will ensure that Sarawakians have access to the Covid-19 vaccine.

Uggah, who is also State Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) chairman, said Abang Johari had also pledged to allocate funds to ensure that all Sarawakians have access to the vaccine once the doses were made available for the state. — Borneo Post