KUCHING, May 1 ― A total of 1,942 or about 2.2 per cent of eligible individuals in Sarawak did not turn up for their first dose of Covid-19 vaccination as of April 29, said state Health Department director Dr Chin Zin Hing.

At the same time, he added, a total 133 or about 0.2 per cent of them had refused to be vaccinated.

"As of April 29, 2021, for Covid-19 vaccination dose 1, total number of enrolments is 87,727 recipients,” he said when contacted.

As for the final dose of the vaccine, a total of 56,022 individuals across Sarawak have received both doses as of April 29, he said.

Out of that number, Dr Chin said 421 or about 0.8 per cent did not come for vaccination and 12 or about 0.02 per cent refused vaccination, he said.

Minister of Local Government and Housing Dato Sri Dr Sim Kui Hian on April 29 said Sarawak may end up with more Covid-19 vaccines than recipients due to the number of people who have not registered for the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme (NCIP).

He said that additional scheduled Sinovac Covid-19 vaccines from the National Covid-19 vaccination programme was enroute to Kuching, aside from more scheduled weekly shipment from now on.

"There are 2.2 million Sarawakians eligible for the NCIP. However, current registration is only 1.2 million or 55 per cent, with 868,000 registered via the MySejahtera app and another 250,000 to 300,000 via manual registration, after data cleaning for duplication,” said Dr Sim in a Facebook post.

"At this rate, by July, we may have vaccines but not enough Sarawakians for vaccination,” he said, urging them to register for the vaccination.

Sarawak aspires to vaccinate at least 70 per cent or approximately two million people in Sarawak by the end of August this year to achieve herd community so as to help curb the spread of Covid-19. ― Borneo Post