BANGI: The Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) will arrange a meeting between the Ministry of Health (MOH) and industrial players to accelerate the uptake of booster doses among workers in the manufacturing sector.

Senior Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali said the National Recovery Council meeting this morning discussed measures that can be implemented to ensure that there will not be any more lockdowns.

"Among the measures is that the MOH will soon meet with industrial players on how to accelerate the vaccination programme for the booster dose among the employees of the manufacturing sector.

"Most of them have been vaccinated in the vaccination rollout which we embarked on in June last year. Through this programme, almost two million factory workers were vaccinated," he told reporters after visiting the Genetec Technology Bhd factory here today.

He said factory workers are prioritised as they are exposed to high risk.

"They have to be at the production line, unlike other sectors where they can work from home.

"We need to accelerate this programme (for the third dose) and we can start with the manufacturing sector," he added.

MITI is also encouraging manufacturers to do regular testing of their workers.

"We had already launched the Safe at Work programme last year, so we are asking them to create safe bubbles in the workplace as well as in their accommodation so that if there are new cases, we can always isolate that particular case or that particular employee without having to impose total closure of factory.

"This will ensure factory operations and supply chains are not disrupted.

"What we learn during this difficult time is that it is important to ensure the free flow of trade and investment with other countries. We can no longer afford disruptions to the supply chain as Malaysia is part of the global supply chain," the minister said.

-- BERNAMA