KUCHING: The Sarawak government will ensure that all Sarawakians have access to a Covid-19 vaccine when it's available, says Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah (pic).
He said Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg had pledged to allocate funds for this purpose once a vaccine was made available to the state.
In line with this, he said the state government echoed Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin's call during the 23rd Asean-China Summit on Thursday (Nov 12) to make Malaysia a top priority for receiving successfully developed Covid-19 vaccines.
"The state disaster management committee would also like to thank China for its contribution and support for Asean's public health initiatives and record our appreciation towards President Xi Jinping for pledging to make the vaccine a 'global public good'," Uggah said in his winding-up speech at the Sarawak legislative assembly on Friday (Nov 13).
He also said the state government had spent about RM96mil from March to October on tackling Covid-19.
"In managing Covid-19, the state disaster management committee has adopted a policy of full containment where we trace, test, quarantine and isolate when there is a positive case," he said.
Uggah said the state's strategies included providing free quarantine and swab tests for returning Sarawakians, setting up and enforcing the use of EnterSarawak and e-health declaration forms to track the movement of people entering and exiting the state and distributing food assistance to the needy during the movement control order (MCO).
In addition, the state also provided medical equipment, personal protective equipment and logistics support for frontliners, he added.
