CITF approves plantation and commodity sector in industrial vaccination programme

KUALA LUMPUR (July 1): The National Covid-19 Immunisation Task Force (CITF) meeting today gave its approval for the plantation and commodity sector to be the fourth sector involved in the industrial vaccination programme.

Coordinating Minister for the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme Khairy Jamaluddin said the three other economic sectors approved earlier were construction, transportation and manufacturing.

He said the workers in the four sectors, believed to be a large part of the economic sectors operating during Phase 1 of the movement control under the National Recovery Plan, will be vaccinated soon.

“We are also looking into the proposals from other sectors, such as retail and tourism, to be included based on priority to operate according to the phases of the National Recovery Plan,” he told a press conference after checking the process at the Construction Industry Vaccination Programme (CIVac) here today.

Meanwhile, Khairy also announced that the CITF had so far approved 27 industrial vaccination centres for the construction, transportation and manufacturing sectors under the supervision of the Works Ministry, Transport Ministry and the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI).

Follow our Covid-19 vaccination tracker to see where we are in the race to herd immunity.

Khairy said the programme will involve 373,327 workers in the three sectors, with half the industrial vaccination centres (PPVs) having begun operating today and another half to begin next week.

“This is the number that we have planned so far based on the need to curb Covid-19 infection and we will most likely increase the number of industrial PPVs based on the risk assessment and epidemiological reports that were received.

“If there is higher risk for a certain economic sector, we are able to provide the vaccine to the sector, but so far, this is the plan that I want to announce,” he said.

Khairy said five of the industrial PPVs are in Selangor, four in Penang, three each in Kuala Lumpur and Terengganu, two each in Johor, Negeri 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 (PICK), [we] will be able to protect the workers of the economic sectors still operating in the current Phase 1 of the National Recovery Plan,” he said.

Meanwhile, Khairy said the priority for the single-dose CanSino vaccine is for states with people in hard-to-reach areas, mostly in Sarawak, Sabah and the east coast of the peninsula.

He said the government is also planning to use the vaccine on certain groups, such as the refugees.

“We hope that actually by tomorrow, I should be able to get some indication of when we will get the CanSino vaccine. We have requested for delivery in July,” he said.

Khairy also said he and Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Adham Baba will issue a joint statement on vaccination of teenagers using the Pfizer vaccine tomorrow.