KOTA KINABALU: Sabah’s first vaccination programme organised with the armed forces started in the rural areas with Long Pasia being first on the list.

       Five hundred villagers in Long Pasia and nearby areas are expected to get their Covid-19 jabs over the next two days under the Jiwa Murni Combat Medic Vaccination programme.

       Praising the effort, Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor, who launched the event yesterday, hopes more of such programmes will be held in other districts to speed up the vaccination programme.“More than 30% of Sabahans have registered for vaccination. We hope to see our target of 30,000 people vaccinated daily starting next month when more vaccines are available,” he added.

       This programme also involved the government’s mobile outreach programme, Covid-19 Immunisation Task Force and village youth volunteers.

       Tongod, Nabawan and Semporna districts will be Jiwa Murni’s next destinations, scheduled for July, August and September respectively.

       In an unrelated event in Tambunan on Wednesday, it was learnt that the vaccination registration exceeded the Covid-19 vaccine supply.

       District officer Jumain Abdul Ghani hopes the government will be able to deliver the vaccines next month so that more people can be jabbed quickly.

       “Apart from the MySejahtera registration, villagers here have also taken the initiative to manually get the names of those who wished to be vaccinated,” he said.