KOTA KINABALU: Sabah received the first batch of the single-dose CanSino Covid-19 vaccine on Tuesday (Aug 24), says state Health director Dr Rose Nani Mudin.

       She said 53,000 doses arrived here, with more vaccines expected to arrive later this month.

       Last week, Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor said the CanSino vaccine doses are expected to arrive in stages, as Sabah has previously requested 1.8 million doses from the Federal Government.

       He said combined with Pfizer and Sinovac vaccines, the state is expected to receive over 500,000 vaccine doses this week.

       Earlier, there were claims that many vaccination centres state-wide are not carrying out the immunisation programme in full capacity due to low vaccine supplies.

       "The Sabah Health Department and Sabah government will continue to increase the vaccination rate by intensifying vaccination activities such as 'outreach’ in remote and difficult to reach areas, while continuing to open all vaccination centres for ‘walk-in’, to give all Sabahans an opportunity to be vaccinated,” said Dr Rose Nani.

       "I urge all Sabah folk to take the Covid-19 vaccine.

       "It has been proven that vaccines protect individuals from getting the infection and even if they are infected after the vaccination, the symptoms are less severe compared with those who are not vaccinated," she said on Tuesday.