Follow time set in vaccination appointment
Sibu Division Disaster Management Committee (SDDMC) coordinator Dr Annuar Rapaee has urged local folks who have been notified to go to the Sibu Indoor Stadium to receive their Covid-19 vaccine, to follow the time allocated in the appointment.
During a Facebook Live stream Saturday night, he said a large crowd had turned up on Friday morning because many people did not go to the vaccination centre according to the time allocated in the appointment.
He was made to understand that there were also people who went to the vaccination centre as early as 6am and waited at the gate, thinking that they would be getting their slots first.
“There is no need to do that, come 15 minutes before the vaccination, it is alright. Come according to your allocated time, there is no need to come two or three hours earlier.
“When your name is registered on that allocated time, your name will be there, it will not be changed nor will the vaccine be used up if you come later. There is no such thing,” he said.
Dr Annuar said he was made to understand that the Ministry of Health (MOH) has allocated 150 people to be vaccinated every hour to avoid overcrowding at the vaccination centre.
He said unless the recipients did not show up for vaccination, the recipients’ name would not be cancelled even if they missed the time allocation in the appointment.
“If that person did not show up at all, after 5pm we will give their slot to other people – to our frontliner who has yet to be vaccinated,” he said.
He said SDDMC will be holding a meeting with the health department to improve the system to ensure that vaccination could be done smoothly.
He also said that he would provide more facilities especially chairs for the convenience of the senior citizens at the vaccination centre.
Meanwhile, Dr Annuar also urged parents to ensure that their children do not mix around with other children during the school holidays.
According to him, almost 25 per cent of the positive cases in Sibu consisted of young children.
He said most of the cases were either asymptomatic or with mild symptoms.
“They can spread the virus to adults. So that is why we need to monitor these young children during school holidays,” he added.
He said while he understood that it would be quite difficult to monitor and control young children from mixing around, it was important to do so to avoid the spread of the virus especially at the flat area in Sibujaya.