PUTRAJAYA (Bernama): All Klang Valley residents are expected to get at least one dose of Covid-19 vaccine by early August and complete their two doses of vaccine inoculation by the end of the month, says Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah.

       Taking Labuan’s vaccination success as an example, the Health director-general said new infections recorded in the island have dropped to only 26 cases on Thursday (July 15).

       "Two weeks after implementing the health measures and vaccination programme in Labuan, 87% of its population received their first dose, while 52% have been fully vaccinated.

       "Today, we can see that new Covid-19 cases in Labuan have decreased,” he told a special press conference here Thursday.

       Dr Noor Hisham said the effectiveness of the public health measures and the increase in the number of vaccine recipients could also prevent the spread of the Delta variant in Labuan.

       He said at one point, 1,340 cases of the Delta variant were recorded in Labuan within a week, which saw the intensive care unit (ICU) bed usage reaching 120%.

       The spike in cases also required the addition of 22 beds and the setting up of a field hospital as well as a Low-Risk Quarantine and Treatment Centre in the island, he added.

       "Currently, we see the ICU cases dropping to 55%, from 22 beds set aside for Covid-19, now only nine are occupied.

       "The low-risk quarantine centre in Labuan now only has about 200 patients and this shows that while the Delta variant was spreading in Labuan, it was important to increase the vaccination rate,” he said.

       As such, Dr Noor Hisham said increasing the vaccination rate should be done in the Klang Valley to simultaneously reduce cases and admissions to hospitals.

       He said currently, more than 3.1 million individuals in the Klang Valley have had their first vaccine shots and the more than five million doses would be administered soon.

       Meanwhile, Health Minister Datuk Dr Adham Baba confirmed that the Pfizer-BioNTech would be used at vaccination centres (PPVs) in Kelantan, replacing Sinovac from next month.

       "Apart from Kelantan, the Pfizer-BionTech vaccine will also be used nationwide since we (government) have booked 45.7 million doses of the vaccine compared to 16 million Sinovac doses,” he said. - Bernama