SANDAKAN, Sept 30 — For four days next week, 3,200 doses of the Sinovac-brand Covid-19 vaccine will be made available at four integrated vaccination centres (PPVI) here, especially for Sandakan residents who have yet to receive any shot of the vaccine.

In a statement today, District Health Officer Dr Johari Awang Besar said 800 doses of the Sinovac vaccine will be made available every day from Oct 4 to 7, or 200 doses at each of the four PPVI, namely at Tionghua Hall, Yu Yuan Hall, Libaran Multipurpose Hall and Gum-Gum Hall.

He said although some Sandakan residents had expressed their preference to be inoculated with Sinovac, the China-made vaccine was very limited as compared to the Pfizer brand and called on those interested and have yet to get vaccinated to not miss out on the opportunity.

"Sandakan Covid-19 Immunisation Task Force (CITF) is determined to work harder to ensure more people in Sandakan were vaccinated. This included collecting census data on the number of people who had completed their vaccination so that CITF Sandakan could plan on approaching those who had not been vaccinated.

"Some people are still unsure of getting vaccinated, but through our outreach programmes and with the help of non-governmental bodies, explanations are also given to them on the benefits of the vaccine,” he said.

About 50 per cent of Sandakan’s 323,100 adult population have completed their vaccination, while about 48 per cent of the district’s 55,000 teenagers aged 12-17 had also received their first dose of the vaccine. — Bernama