KUALA LUMPUR: Phase Two of the Construction Industry Vaccination Programme (CIVac) which will kick off on Aug 5 will involve 55,000 construction workers in Penang and Johor.

Works Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof said the registration for the vaccination was opened on July 12 with 30,000 slots allocated for the workers in Penang and 25,000, in Johor.

"Right now, all slots in Johor were fully booked, while the registration in Penang still ongoing as only 22,800 slots were booked so far.

"The vaccination process will be carried out from Aug 5 until Sept 15," he said in a statement here today.

He said the registration for CIVac was expected to be opened for 20,000 construction workers in Pahang from July 25 and for another 20,000 workers in Sabah from July 31.

Fadillah said Phase One of CIVac began on July 1 in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor, targeting on 40,000 local and foreign construction workers.

He said as of July 20, a total of 24,106 or 60.26 per cent of workers registered under the programme had received their first dose of COVID-19 vaccine.

"The ministry is in the midst of applying for more vaccine supply from the National COVID-19 Immunisation Task Force (CITF) to meet the demand of 300,000 construction workers, including for another 65,000 workers in Kuala Lumpur and 30,000 in Selangor.

"The request for additional quota of the vaccine would continue based on the current demand of the construction industry," he said.

He said the Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) would also provide a mobile vaccination centre should there be a request for such a facility.

CIVac is the COVID-19 vaccination programme for the workers in the construction industry, which is an initiative taken CIDB under the Works Ministry to speed up the vaccination rate among the economic frontliners in order to reduce COVID-19 infection clusters involving workplaces.

-- BERNAMA