Welcome relief for 1, 000 workers

KUALA LUMPUR: Getting voluntarily vaccinated against Covid-19 under a government pilot project has given a sense of comfort and security to some 1, 000 MMC Gamuda workers involved in the construction of the MRT Putrajaya Line.

Among them is Steven Austin, 43, who works in the company’s public relations and stakeholders management department.

“My job requires me to meet up with a lot of people, including visits to the project site and stakeholders involved with the project.

“I feel more at ease and secure now that I have gotten my jab, ” he said after getting vaccinated under the MYMedic@Wilayah Vaccine Mobile Truck pilot project yesterday.

Austin, who is from Cheras, added that getting vaccinated also meant lower risk of infection for his wife and mother-in-law.

R. Nalinii, 28, said she was happy to be able to get the shot as she had been unsuccessful in getting an appointment under the recent AstraZeneca opt-in registration.

“I was disappointed that I didn’t get an appointment and told myself to be patient and wait for my turn.

“So when I heard that the company was offering 1, 000 doses under a pilot project, I immediately signed up, ” she said.

Nalinii, who is part of the site operations team, commended the Federal Territories Ministry to

initiate the mobile vaccination project.

“This will help bring down the high number of Covid-19 cases and deaths in the Klang Valley, ” she added.

Meanwhile, MMC Gamuda project director Datuk Wong Wai Ching said the company was selected for the ministry’s pilot mobile truck vaccination project as it is involved a critical public transportation project for the benefit of residents living in the Klang Valley.

“The pilot programme offered 1, 000 vaccine doses to our workers who are mainly on the front lines.

“Registration for the vaccine was voluntary, ” he said when met yesterday.

He added that the vaccine slots were quickly taken up as workers eagerly volunteered for the shots.

The voluntary vaccination exercise, he said, was the latest proactive measure taken by MMC Gamuda to help in the fight against the pandemic.

He said the company launched its own in-house polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test laboratory in December, the first such private initiative in the construction industry.

The laboratory currently carries out screening of about 16, 000 workers involved with Gamuda MMC projects each week, he added.

On Monday, some 1, 000 residents from the Kampung Muhibbah people’s housing project here were also vaccinated as part of the ministry’s MYMedic@Wilayah Vaccine Mobile Truck pilot project.