In a statement today, he said the vaccines would only be given to those who want it.

“We are aware there are people who don’t want to be vaccinated because of certain fears and phobias,” he said.

“They may have unfortunately been influenced by a lot of negative postings on social media, some of which are quite scary.”

However, the state government targets to get at least 2.2 million people in Sarawak to be vaccinated under its three-phase vaccination programme, which will be launched in Kuching on Feb 27.

Uggah said for those who wanted to be vaccinated, they would be checked by doctors for any allergy or sickness first to ensure they are fit for the vaccination.

He said the state government would carry out a publicity campaign in newspapers and social media platforms on the need for people to be vaccinated.

“The vaccine is to protect ourselves, our families and society. It will also allow us to restart various economic activities and go back to our normal routine.”

Uggah, who is also the Sarawak Disaster Management Committee chairman, said a 10-member special committee under the leadership of a local scientist, Dr Andrew Kiyu, had been formed to look into the need to acquire more vaccines for the state should the need arise.

“Although the federal government is supplying the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, we will have to look around for extra supply, should they be inadequate or run out sooner than expected,” he said.

“Thus, chief minister Abang Johari Openg has directed Andrew, who is also a former state health director and his team of scientists, to come up with recommendations to the state government on other vaccines available in the market,” he said.

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