KOTA KINABALU: Prisoners in Sabah will not be excluded from Covid-19 vaccination, says state Health Department director Dr Rose Nani Mudin.

       She said the speed of transmission within prison walls was quick as it is an enclosed space.

       “The past few days, we have seen a drastic increase in the number of Covid-19 cases and most of them are from prison clusters,” she said after meeting with Head of State Tun Juhar Mahiruddin here on Monday (July 19).

       Sabah recorded a total of 666 new cases on Sunday (July 18), of which more than half (335) are from two prisons – Tawau and Kepayan (Kota Kinabalu) with 124 and 211 cases respectively.

       Dr Rose Nani said when cases are detected, a massive screening exercise would be conducted and hence, record an increase in Covid-19 cases.

       Therefore, every effort will be made to ensure that as many people in Sabah, including prison inmates, will be given the vaccine as soon as possible, she said.

       However, she added that authorities need to wait for more vaccine doses to be supplied to the state, as priority is being given to states and localities with higher and more severe Covid-19 cases.

       “To date, we have received over 700,000 doses of Covid-19 vaccine and they are being distributed to as many vaccination centres especially in areas with higher cases as fast as possible,” Dr Rose said.

       On other matters, she reminded the public to strictly follow SOPs when in public, especially during Hari Raya Aidiladha.

       “Let us help keep ourselves and our loved ones safe as we continue fighting this pandemic,” she said.