COVID-19: Kelantan wants more vaccines following rise in sporadic cases

KOTA BHARU: The sharp rise in daily COVID-19 positive cases again in Kelantan, which on average involves community or sporadic infections, has placed the state in a dire situation, said State Local Government, Housing and Health Committee chairman Dr Izani Husin.

Taking into account the current development, he said Menteri Besar Datuk Ahmad Yakob, who chaired the Kelantan State Security Sub-Committee (JKKN) meeting today, would make an official application to the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MOSTI) for additional vaccine doses for the state.

"There is a sharp rise in COVID-19 cases in Kelantan, and there are also cases involving the Delta variant. In fact, these are sporadic cases in the community. While looking at the number of cases and the R-naught value (Rt), we are very concerned about the current situation.

"Kelantan has already received 500,000 vaccine doses this month as promised by MOSTI, to curb the spread of the coronavirus and increase the vaccination rate. We request for additional vaccine doses up to one million doses beginning in August, so that we can administer 30,000 vaccine doses a day," he said.

He told reporters this after attending the Kelantan JKKN meeting here. Also present was State Health director Datuk Dr Zaini Hussin.

Dr Izani added that the need for additional vaccine doses was to expedite the vaccination programme following reports on the decline in the level of compliance by people in the state on COVID-19 prevention standard operating procedures (SOPs).

Yesterday, Kelantan recorded 532 new positive cases while 3,517 cases are receiving treatment.

-- BERNAMA