KOTA KINABALU, March 4 — The Sabah government has readied 195 vaccine distribution centres, including in rural areas, to ensure the smooth implementation of the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme at the state level, said Chief Minister Datuk Hajiji Noor.

He said the provision of the centres was also an effort to ensure that all Sabahans could receive the Covid-19 vaccine through the programme, which will be implemented in phases.

"We (the state government) hope that this immunisation programme will go well and reach every corner of Sabah so that the people can receive the vaccine injection,” he told reporters after launching the programme for Sabah here today.

Earlier, Hajiji had received the first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine, along with Sabah Local Government and Housing Minister Datuk Masidi Manjun, Sabah Community Development and People’s Wellbeing Minister Shahelmy Yahya, Sabah Police Commissioner Datuk Hazani Ghazali and Sabah Health Department director Dr Christina Rundi.

Sharing his experience in getting the jab, Hajiji said there were no side effects nor pain and that it was just like a normal injection.

"Therefore, we do not need to worry. Some people think that receiving this injection will be harmful, that is not right, (instead) we receive this vaccine to protect us from Covid-19 infection,” said Hajiji, who was monitored for 15 minutes after receiving the injection.   

Previously, Hajiji had said that the state government had made all the necessary preparations to make the immunisation programme in the state  a success, including setting up a Covid-19 Immunisation Special Task Force led by Sabah State Secretary Datuk Safar Untong.

District officers as well as community leaders will play a key role in implementing this programme at the grassroots level.

Meanwhile, Hazani, when met by reporters, advised the public not to spread false news about the vaccine, especially on social media and to be responsible in sharing information.

"The police will be monitoring to ensure that there is no spread of false news about the vaccine and the community gets accurate and up-to-date information on the government’s Covid-19 immunisation programme,” he said.

On Feb 25, Sabah received its first batch of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine comprising 16,380 doses for the immunisation programme, which will be distributed state-wide for the vaccination process, initially involving frontliners and others eligible to receive it under the first phase. Five more batches are to be sent to Sabah until April 1.

 The National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme will be implemented in three phases with Phase 1 from February to April 2021, mainly for frontliners involving some 500,000 people. — Bernama