KOTA KINABALU: Sabah’s Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Jafry Ariffin is asking for a fairer distribution of Covid-19 vaccines, claiming that the supply does not come up to tally with the number of recipients in the state.

       Expressing his disappointment with the rate of supply to the state, Jafry said Sabah has more than 2.7 million eligible recipients but the distribution of vaccine to the state does not tally.

       “The Federal Government should be fairer and more balanced when supplying us with the vaccines,” he said in a statement on Tuesday (July 20).

       Jafry said the vaccination rate in Sabah is way behind compared to other states, adding that this shows ineffectiveness in the management of vaccine distribution.

       There are still too many people in Sabah who have yet to even get their immunisation appointment, he said.

       “We only have about 13% (or 358, 592) vaccinated people in Sabah as of July 17.”

       He said to achieve the 40% target of vaccinated people from those eligible, the Federal Government must deliver another 1.48 million doses before the middle of August.

       “We cannot restart our economy without a scheduled and quick vaccination rate. With Sabah’s dependency on the tourism industry, we cannot do much if we have yet to get at least 60% of our state population vaccinated,” he said.

       With the reopening of domestic tourism, Sabah can restart its economy while it prepares for international and state borders to reopen for international visitors, he added.