LABUAN, Sept 20 — Of Labuan’s 103,000 population, 73.63 per cent have received at least one dose of Covid-19 vaccine as of Sept 19, while 69.49 per cent are fully vaccinated.
Labuan Covid-19 Task Force chairman Rithuan Ismail said the number receiving vaccines increased steadily the last two months.
He said as for adults, 100.97 per cent have completed the second dose.
“The slightly over 100 per cent is due to the additional number of workers working in Labuan’s oil and gas-related sectors receiving the vaccines, as well as people in the refugee settlement schemes, as we want to mitigate infections, we want those working in this island to also get their shots,” he told Bernama today.
Rithuan said the recently launched phase one of vaccination for school-going children saw 2, 469 out of the 2, 593 eligible receiving the first jab.
“To achieve herd immunity against Covid-19, we must ensure all children 12 years old and above are vaccinated,” he said.
Rithuan, who is also Labuan Disaster Management Committee chairman, said Labuan is ready to launch the phase two of vaccination exercise involving 8, 225 children aged 12 -15 years, pending the Ministry of Health’s (MoH) approval.
“We have received positive feedback from parents wanting their children to get vaccinated to achieve herd immunity within their family,’ he said.
Rithuan said this federal territory has sufficient stocks of vaccines to immunise children.
“After completing the vaccination exercise on school-going children, we will be focusing on out-of-school children,” he said
The duty-free island has entered Phase Four of the National Recovery Plan (PPN) with a manageable infectivity rate. — Bernama
