Johor hopes to kick off Covid-19 immunisation programme on March 1, says state Health Committee chairman

JOHOR BARU: The Johor government hopes to start the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme from March 1, says R. Vidyananthan.

The State Health and Environment Committee chairman said that Johor received its first batch of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine on Sunday (Feb 21) via the Johor Causeway.

“We hope to launch the first phase of the programme on March 1, focusing on frontliners from the Health Ministry as well as from other departments that are directly involved in controlling and preventing the spread of the disease on the ground.

“We expect to complete the first phase of the programme in April, ” he said in a statement Saturday (Feb 27).

He added that the vaccines have been placed at four vaccine storage centres located at Hospital Permai in Johor Baru, Hospital Sultanah Nora Ismail in Batu Pahat, Hospital Temenggong Seri Maharaja Tun Ibrahim in Kulai and Hospital Pakar Sultanah Fatimah in Muar.

“The vaccines are stored at centres that provide ultra-low volume freezer (ULVF), which ensures that the vaccines could be kept at a temperature of -80°C. This allows it to last for about six months.

“The vaccine would later be channeled to the respective vaccine dispensing centres (PPV). At the moment, a total of 62 PPV have been registered statewide for the first phase of the immunisation programme, ” he said, adding that the PPV included health clinics and community halls.

He also urged the public to register for the immunisation programme as soon as possible, which could be done through the MySejahtera or at vaksincovid.gov.my

“Registration could also be done at government or private health facilities as well as through government outreach programmes for those in the rural areas, ” he said, adding that the state government aims to have about 80% of the people vaccinated.

On the Covid-19 situation in Johor, Vidyananthan said that a total of 276 new Covid-19 cases have been reported in Johor on Friday (Feb 26).

“A total of 63 of the cases are from existing clusters while 64 are from the two new clusters detected in Johor Baru and Muar on Friday (Feb 26).

“Another 75 of the cases were detected through close contact screenings, 73 from other Covid-19 screenings and one imported case, ” he said, adding that one death was also reported.

Johor Baru recorded the highest number of cases (86), followed by Muar (64), Kulai (46), Kota Tinggi (30), Batu Pahat (20), Pontian (19) and Kluang (11).

“As of Friday (Feb 26), a total of 35,303 Covid-19 cases have been reported in the state, including 32,668 recovered cases, 2,541 who are still receiving treatments and 94 deaths, ” he said, adding that there are currently a total of 125 active clusters.