Serian health office does inoculation drill
SERIAN: The Serian health office has carried out a vaccination simulation exercise in preparation for the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme scheduled to start next week.
The exercise at the community hall here, about 61km from Kuching in Sarawak, involved medical personnel and relevant agencies such as the Civil Defence Force, Fire and Rescue Department and Rela.
Serian resident Tuah Suni said the simulation was conducted to test the vaccination process and identify any shortcomings for improvement.
“We want to get all the staff and agencies involved in the process and procedures so that they know their roles on the actual day.
“We also want to see what gaps we might face and try to resolve them,” he told reporters during the exercise yesterday.
Tuah added that the immunisation programme in Serian division was expected to start on or after Feb 24, when the first batch of vaccines arrives in Sarawak.
He explained that the first phase was for frontliners, followed by phase two for highrisk individuals and phase three for the public.
An estimated 108,000 individuals in Serian are eligible for the vaccine along with over 4,000 frontliners.
“The number of frontliners to be vaccinated depends on how many vaccine doses we receive. Once the frontliners have been vaccinated, the rest will follow.
“For the public in phases two and three, they will be given an appointment to come for the vaccination,” Tuah said.
He said the community hall would be the only vaccination centre in Serian for now due to logistics.
“We can decide to open other venues in more rural areas later if the situation permits,” he added.
Tuah also said the Serian district office would help to carry out awareness and promotion programmes on the importance of the vaccination as a preventive measure against Covid-19.
“We encourage the public in Serian to register for the vaccination because we don’t want the virus to spread,” he said.