Time to review interdistrict travel for second dose recipients - Dr Annuar

SIBU: It is high time for the policy on interdistrict travel to be reviewed for those who have received their second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, said Sarawak Public Health and Housing Assistant Minister Dr Annuar Rapaee.

However, he said that some factors needed to be taken into account before the Sarawak Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) and the National Security Council (MKN) could make any decision on the matter.

Dr Annuar, who is the coordinator of Sibu Division Disaster Management Committee (SDDMC), explained that one of the factors to allow inter district travel was the number of COVID-19 cases, which he said was still very high.

Another factor is that the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine is 95 per cent effective, with some individuals needing time to build up their antibodies after the second dose.

"The number of frontliners who have received their second dose is 129,000 nationwide and 19,000 in Sarawak. It is still very minimal," he said.

He was answering a question from the audience during his daily Facebook live updates on the COVID-19 situation in Sibu yesterday.

He also urged members of the public in Sibu to continue their cooperation in complying with the standard operating procedures to flatten the curve of the COVID-19 infection.

Although all of the 31 zones in Sibu have been declared yellow today, the curve had yet to be really flattened, he said.

Sibu yesterday recorded 33 new COVID-19 positive cases while 80 patients have been discharged from the Sibu Hospital.

-- BERNAMA