COVID-19: Private hospitals in Sarawak to start vaccinations from 25th May under PICK

Private hospitals in Sarawak will start their vaccination against COVID-19 next Tuesday, the state’s Local Government and Housing Minister Datuk Seri Dr Sim Kui Hian said yesterday.

The Sarawak Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) and private hospitals held a virtual meeting yesterday to prepare for the substantial increase in COVID-19 vaccine supply under the National COVID-19 Immunisation Programme (PICK) starting from June.

“Very fruitful meeting. It will help to facilitate the ProtectHealth Corporation Sdn Bhd (ProtectHealth) on issues faced by the Private Hospitals in Sarawak,” Dr Sim, who is also SDMC adviser, said in a Facebook post.

ProtectHealth was appointed by the Ministry of Health as the executor for private general practitioners (GPs) participation under PICK.

Dr Sim said the National COVID-19 Immunisation Task Force will schedule more than one million doses of vaccines under PICK every month for June, July and August for those who have registered for vaccination. These are vaccines produced under the Pfizer-BioNtech and Sinovac brands, he said.

“As of May 20, we only have 1,147,403 eligible Sarawakians registered for vaccination through MySejahtera app,” he said.

He added that 133,421 Sarawakians received the first dose as of May 19.

Another one million Sarawakians have yet to register for COVID-19 vaccination.

Dr Sim stressed that COVID-19 is a medical crisis, adding that “what we see reflects the incubation of the virus in the last 14 days.”

Dr Sim said the state’s top priority at this critical stage to keep everyone alive and to ensure that the hospitals and healthcare system do not collapse.— Malay Mail