Rural Development Ministry to settle COVID-19 vaccinations for Orang Asli by November

Deputy Rural Development Minister Datuk Seri Abdul Rahman Mohamad said there were 144,180 Orang Asli eligible for vaccinations, and until now over 90,000 of them have been vaccinated.

"We estimate the remainder who have yet to be vaccinated will be completed come November. We have also requested around 50,000 to 70,000 doses of CanSino vaccines for the Orang Asli communities.

"If we obtain enough vaccine supplies, we can vaccinate the remaining Orang Asli in October," he told reporters at the Gua Musang COVID-19 Orang Asli Vaccination Programme at Pos Gob here today.

The vaccination programme was a joint effort by the ministry, Department of Orang Asli Development (JAKOA), Health Ministry, COVID-19 Immunisation Task Force (CITF), as well as the Fire and Rescue Department. Vaccines and vaccination staff were brought in using four helicopters since last Wednesday till today (Sept 15 to 18).

He said the optimised use of government assets, such as helicopters to access the interior would increase the vaccination rate among Orang Asli communities.

"There are 818 Orang Asli here and out of that, 418 qualify for vaccinations. Initially only 90 people agreed to be vaccinated but we are confident the number will increase.

"A total of 200 single-dose CanSino vaccines have been prepared for those who wish to be vaccinated today," he said.

On vaccinations of teens aged 12 to 17 from the Orang Asli communities, he said the ministry would expedite the matter as schools would be reopening soon.

"Vaccinations for that group are very important as there are constraints in home-based learning and teaching due to the lack of internet coverage, especially for rural communities," he said.

He said the ministry found that less than 20 per cent of the Orang Asli community were not ready to be vaccinated, probably due to the influence of inaccurate news about vaccinations.