KUALA LUMPUR, June 8 — The Selangor Sultan today expressed displeasure with groups who are anti-vaccines in the state, pointing out that being vaccinated against Covid-19 would help save lives and also avoid causing the country to be in a more dangerous situation due to the pandemic.

In a statement today, the Selangor Ruler Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah expressed his "disappointment and displeasure with the existence of anti-vaccine groups in this state”.

"His Royal Highness hopes that the public would not be easily influenced by such deviant beliefs.

"His Royal Highness believes that vaccines can help save an individual’s life and also a community, especially from dangerous pandemics such as Covid-19,” the state Ruler said in a statement issued on his behalf by his private secretary Datuk Mohamad Munir Bani.

"His Royal Highness worries if there are individuals or groups who are stubborn about receiving the Covid-19 vaccine injections, the target to achieve herd immunity by the end of this year will not be achieved, putting this country in a pandemic crisis that is more critical and dangerous,” the statement also said.

The Selangor Sultan expressed his sadness at the daily Covid-19 statistics in Selangor with the daily number of new Covid-19 cases always increasing and with the total cumulative number of positive cases at 203,520 as of June 7, along with a worrying death toll of 961 deaths so far up to June 7.

He also urged the Special Committee on Covid-19 Vaccine Supply (JKJAV) to speed up and increase the supply of Covid-19 vaccine doses for Selangor, stating that the supply of over 600,000 doses only as of June 1 to the state was an "unfair” amount in light of Selangor’s 6.5 million-strong population and the state’s role as the biggest contributor of Malaysia’s gross domestic product (GDP).

The Selangor Sultan also expressed a desire for the number of Covid-19 vaccine administration centres (PPV) in Selangor to be increased, especially in rural areas.

"His Royal Highness is of the view that vaccine administration through drive-throughs or mobile clinics can help speed up the process and expand the vaccination coverage,” the statement also said.