JOHOR BARU: Some 50 homeless and jobless individuals have received their Covid-19 vaccine at the free food distribution hub downtown.

       Malaysian Red Crescent Society (MCRS) national committee for community services and health deputy chairman Datuk Mohd Rashidi Mohd Noor said the vaccination programme was specially arranged to inoculate those who usually came for free meals at the hub along Jalan Trus here.

       He said about 200 registered homeless and jobless individuals turned up at the hub to receive free food daily and inoculation has been arranged for the majority of them at different vaccination centres (PPV) around Johor Baru.

       “The remainder of about 70 had yet to be inoculated due to various factors such as the lack of identification documents, which is why MCRS arranged for a one-day outdoor PPV to vaccinate these individuals.

       “Thankfully the Health Ministry agreed to it and about 50 of the homeless and jobless showed up to receive the CanSino vaccine, for which they only need to receive one dose.

       “This makes it easier for all parties as they do not have to head to the PPV twice,” he said when met at the food hub on Monday (Sept 27).

       He added that MCRS would continue to identify those who have yet to receive the vaccine through the daily food giveaways.

       Mohd Rashidi said they started collecting the data of the individuals in May and have been liaising with the state government since June for them to be inoculated.

       The vaccine recipients were also given a free meal and a goodie bag filled with dried food.