Drive-through for vaccine jabs begins at USM

GEORGE TOWN: A drive-through vaccination centre which opened at Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) campus in Gelugor on Friday (July 23) received its first 100 second-dose vaccine recipients.

PPV@USM main committee chairman Prof Dr Md Roslan Hashim said this was the first drive-through involving public institutions of higher learning in the state.

“For the first day, we received 100 recipients but the capacity will be increased to a maximum of 200 recipients soon.

“But this drive-through is only intended for vaccine recipients who are receiving their second dose, along with other criteria,” he told reporters during a visit to the drive-through PPV on Friday (July 23).

Other criteria include that the individual to be vaccinated must be a passenger and not the driver of the vehicle.

“The recipients must also agree to be vaccinated via the drive-through and after receiving the jab, they must be observed for 15 minutes (depending on the first dose)," he added.

Prof Md Roslan said besides the drive-through, USM was also operating a static PPV at its Dewan Utama Pelajar, which began on June 21, on top of another static PPV at its campus in Bertam, Kepala Batas.

“Presently, we administer 800 doses throughout our facilities daily with 400 of those from our campus in Bertam.

“A total of 200 volunteers from USM are helping to maintain the operations of our PPVs," he added.

The drive-through at PPV@USM operates from 9am to 1pm daily while its static PPVs, from 8.30am to 4.30pm.