PETALING JAYA: The rescheduling of vaccination appointments for taxi, e-hailing and p-hailing drivers and riders has begun and more than 50,000 of them will have their Covid-19 vaccinations expedited, says Transport Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong (pic).

       Dr Wee said the Transport Ministry has been collecting names from companies in the industry since mid-June, and eligible recipients will be notified by the Covid-19 Immunisation Task Force (CITF) on their vaccination schedules.

       Dr Wee said CITF will begin rescheduling the vaccination appointments of 41,488 taxi and e-hailing drivers and 11,527 p-hailing riders.

       "An additional list of around 57,931 p-hailing riders has also been submitted for CITF's consideration.

       "We will work with CITF to arrange for others to be vaccinated as quickly as possible," he said on Friday (July 16).

       Dr Wee said a press release will be issued once the ministry has received more details, adding that it aims to vaccinate 40,000 taxi drivers, 110,000 e-hailing drivers and 154,000 p-hailing riders nationwide as soon as possible.

       He was also optimistic of achieving the target of getting 80% of taxi and e-hailing drivers vaccinated by National Day, Aug 31.

       "This is what we are striving for together with CITF, particularly in KL, Selangor and Sarawak due to worrying numbers of daily confirmed cases," he added.

       Dr Wee was responding to a Facebook post by Segambut MP Hannah Yeoh, who said that such drivers must not be left out of the national inoculation drive.