KUALA LUMPUR: The Federal Territories of Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya and Labuan will most likely be the first three cities in the country to hit herd immunity in Malaysia’s battle against the Covid-19 pandemic, Federal Territories Minister Tan Sri Annuar Musa says.
Based on current available data, Annuar said Labuan would be the first city to hit herd immunity with the majority of its population vaccinated by next month, four months ahead of schedule in the National Recovery Plan target.
This will be followed by Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya which are aiming to achieve herd immunity as early as August.
Annuar said vaccine registrations in both cities had hit 100% among their target population aged 18 and above. In Labuan so far, 80% of its population have registered for vaccination.
The number of people vaccinated in Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya and Labuan collectively have increased from 7,000 to 35,789 per day.
In Putrajaya alone, the numbers have increased from 1,000 to 1,800 per day, while in Labuan it has more than quadrupled from 700 to 3,000 a day.
“We are able to accelerate the process because we have the capacity and resources to do so with 100 vaccination centres (PPVs) in all three cities.
“Apart from the mega PPVs, we also have 100 private clinics, 19 private hospitals and 12 mobile trucks on board to help with the programme,” said the minister.
He also revealed plans to help certain vulnerable groups in the Federal Territories get vaccinated, such as those in the B40 group, the homeless community and food delivery riders.
“We have thus far vaccinated about 2,000 workers from Pasar Borong Kuala Lumpur and Selayang under the recent MYMedic@Wilayah Vaccine Mobile Truck initiative,” he said.
He added that 119 of the homeless people that were rescued from the streets had completed their two doses while another 133 would be getting their first.
“Next, we are targeting senior citizens living in People’s Housing Project (PPR) flats and traditional villages. We will go to them instead of them coming to us,” said Annuar, disclosing that the ministry had identified 22 locations for this phase of the vaccination initiative.
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Plans in the pipeline also include using mobile trucks to go to construction sites in Kuala Lumpur to vaccinate workers.
“We plan to add 30 more of these trucks, with each having the capacity to administer 600 doses per day,’’ said Annuar.
Some 52 doctors, 104 nurses and more than 150 administrative workers are involved in the programme.
On food delivery riders, Annuar said they were considered vulnerable too as they had to work during the lockdowns.
“It is only fair that they are vaccinated quickly and we are currently in talks with the food delivery companies to get this done,’’ he said.
When asked if there was a possibility of reopening certain sectors like the entertainment sector once Kuala Lumpur achieved its herd immunity target, he said it had not been discussed in detail.
“The principle remains the same. If the situation is safe for some sectors to start, of course, the government wants to help these sectors; they have been suffering for so long, but that must be treated in totality.
“For instance, the hotel sector. If Kuala Lumpur can achieve its herd immunity, we believe the hotel industry can slowly reopen,’’ he said.
Meanwhile, to address the financial difficulties faced by thousands of people living in the three Federal Territories who have lost their jobs and are struggling to make ends meet, the ministry has rolled out several forms of aid for them under the Wilayah Cakna 6.0 initiatives starting with an offer of assessment rebates between 5% and 10% to all ratepayers in Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya and Labuan.
“We will finalise the offer but the cost involved in carrying this out is estimated at between RM50mil and RM100mil,” said Annuar.
Ratepayers are also allowed to pay by instalments to ease their cash flow, and all late penalties will be expunged.
Those renting government housing units and other city assets such as food courts are given a 50% discount on rent.
The minister also assured that traders who registered under the Federal Territories Free Trading (“Wilayah Bebas Berniaga”) initiative would be exempted from paying licence fees until the year-end.
About 4,510 licences were approved in all three territories.
The initiative was first introduced last November and was only meant to last until July, but has now been extended until the end of the year.
“We all want to see life go back to normal, and I am hoping that this can happen in August. I also want to see Kuala Lumpur become vibrant again,” said Annuar.