KUALA LUMPUR: As the race to inoculate Malaysians continues, Khairy Jamaluddin announced that 27 new vaccination centres have so far been approved for the construction, transportation and manufacturing sectors.
The 27 PPVs will be in charge of vaccinating 373,327 workers across the three sectors and they will begin operating on Thursday (July 1), said the Science Technology and Innovation Minister.
“Based on current needs to combat Covid-19, we might increase the number of industry PPVs based on risk assessments and reports we received.
“If there is high risk in certain sectors, then we will divert the vaccines to that particular sector,” he said during a press conference after visiting the PPV at the Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) convention centre in Cheras here.
Also present was Works Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof.
Khairy said the 27 industry PPVs consisted of five in Selangor, four in Penang, three in Kuala Lumpur and Terengganu respectively, two each in Johor, Negri Sembilan, Melaka and Pahang, and one each in Sabah, Putrajaya, Perak and Kedah.
“We hope that with the industrial vaccination programme, which is part and parcel of the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme, will be able to protect workers of critical economic sectors that are still operating in the current phase of the National Recovery Plan, he added.
Fadillah said that 500 jabs will be administered in the first three days of operations at the CIDB convention centre under the Construction Industry Vaccination Programme (Civac) beginning Thursday (July 1) and it will be gradually increased to 1,300 jabs a day.
Fadillah also said the Works Ministry and CIDB will propose to the Covid-19 Immunisation Task Force (CITF) to either have a makeshift vaccination centre or mobile vaccination clinics at construction sites in future.
“Many of these workers live at the construction sites and it is difficult for them to come out.
“So what we can do is, we work with the industry players, either we have vaccination centres at the construction site or we will have a mobile unit that will go to that site,” he said.
Fadillah also said that more than one million workers in the construction sector have signed up for vaccination, with 70% of them consisting of locals and the other 30% comprising foreigners.
He added that Civac is a collaboration between the government and private sector in order to expedite the vaccination process among construction workers in a bid to bring down Covid-19 figures which have been surging at workplaces.
Under Civac, Fadillah said 80,000 doses of vaccine have been allocated for 40,000 workers in Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya and Selangor by the Special Committee on Covid-19 Vaccine Supply (JKJAV).
Fadillah said Civac was launched at the CIDB convention centre on Thursday (July 1) for construction workers in Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya.
For Selangor construction workers, the Civac programme will begin at the National Panasonic Sports Complex at Shah Alam on July 14.
Meanwhile, Fadillah said Civac has received positive response since it was launched for registration by CIDB last June 21 in Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya and Selangor.
“All of the slots were fully booked in less than 24 hours. This shows that industry players in the construction industry are very prepared to ensure that their workers are vaccinated against Covid-19,” he added.
At the same time, Fadillah said it is estimated that more than two million doses of vaccines will be required to immunise construction workers nationwide.
“In the Works Ministry, we hope the vaccination programme for the construction sector can be implemented quickly in order to ensure that the construction sector can once again contribute to the economic development in the country,” he added.
Fadillah said that due to overwhelming response for Civac, the Works Ministry has ordered an additional 200,000 doses for 100,000 construction workers for phase two of Civac.
“The ministry will also increase the amount according to demands and needs of the construction sector,” he said.
Fadillah said phase two of Civac will be expanded to Penang, Johor and Pahang if there is demand, and subsequently to Sabah and Sarawak.
“The ministry also encourages all industry players in the construction sector to use whatever channels, whether federal or state, to ensure that their workers are vaccinated against Covid-19,” he added.
