KUALA LUMPUR: A drive-through vaccination centre will be set up by the Malaysian Armed Forces at Kem Sungai Besi soon, says Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob.
The Senior Minister said the move was to vaccinate armed forces personnel and their families against Covid-19.
“I have already seen the mock-up of the drive-through centre and I am satisfied.
“It’s capable of vaccinating between 1,000 and 2,000 people daily. We may also open the drive-through centre at other camps so that we can vaccinate more personnel daily, ” he told a virtual press conference yesterday.
He said that once they have completed the vaccination of armed forces personnel and family members, these drive-through facilities would be opened to the public.
“The locations of these facilities would be announced later but they might be close to armed forces facilities.
“This would make it logistically easier to set up, ” he said.
Ismail Sabri also said a modular hospital would be built within the compound of the Tuanku Mizan Armed Forces Hospital here.
“The modular hospital will have a 64-bed capacity including 16 intensive care unit (ICU) beds, ” he said.
He said WCT Holdings Berhad through its corporate social responsibility programme had pledged to fund the hospital, which is worth over RM20mil.
“This modular hospital follows a prefabricated module concept and can be physically built within two to three months.
“The structure and basic fixtures of the module will facilitate control of infectious diseases and is capable of being used to treat all categories of Covid-19 patients, ” he said.
Ismail Sabri added that he had visited the site where the hospital would be built yesterday.
“Once we get all the proper documents and permits from the Kuala Lumpur City Hall and Health Ministry, this hospital can be built within two months, ” Ismail Sabri said.
He added that the armed forces had committed to equipping and operating the modular hospital.
In the long term, he said, the modular hospital could be used for defensive preparedness against biological threats.
This includes a clinical training and control of infectious diseases centre for Universiti Pertahanan Nasional Malaysia students, health personnel from the armed forces, and other agencies.
“It could also be used as a training and makeshift simulation hospital for armed forces health personnel, ” he said.
Meanwhile, Ismail Sabri said mobile clinics would be deployed to rural and hard-to-reach areas, especially in Sabah and Sarawak, to ensure everyone had access to Covid-19 vaccines.
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