S’kan still far from achieving herd immunity: Health officer
Published on: Monday, September 20, 2021
By: Mardinah Jikur
Bernama pic for illustration only.
SANDAKAN: Only 55 per cent of 363,000 eligible vaccine recipients in Sandakan have completed their first dose while only 39 per cent have been fully vaccinated as of Sept 16, said Sandakan Health Officer Dr Johari Awang Besar.He said the percentage thus far is far behind compared to Sabah’s overall vaccination rate of 55 per cent for those fully vaccinated and 69 per cent for those who have completed their first dose.
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“We are still far from the target of achieving herd immunity, where at least 80 per cent of Sandakan’s adult population have completed both doses of the vaccine” he said in a statement, Saturday, adding that it is a worrying situation for the district.
He said if the percentage remains low and herd immunity fails to be achieved, it is feared that the virus would still be highly contagious within the community.
Dr Johari said since a month ago, Sandakan had consistently recorded three-digit cases and had only decreased to two-digits recently.
He said 116 out-of-hospital Covid-19 deaths have occurred among those 50 years and above, where 85 per cent of them were not vaccinated.
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