KOTA KINABALU: The Sabah government encourages but will not force the people to take the Covid-19 vaccination, said Sabah Covid-19 spokesperson Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun.Masidi, who is also Local Government and Housing Minister and Finance Minister II, said no protest activities have happened in Sabah thus far.

“Regarding the Covid-19 anti-vaccine movement in Sabah, there is currently no reports on vaccination protest activities as the program is voluntary,” he said during the Sabah State Covid-19 Current Development Press Conference here today.

“There is no coercion. Even so, the government encourages us to take this vaccination. Many explanations have been made through the media. We hope, many, if not all the people of Sabah, will get this vaccination.

“The people of Sabah have generally welcomed the government’s efforts to curb the Covid-19 pandemic through vaccination programs,” he added.

Masidi said to coordinate with the National Covid-19 Immunization Program at the Sabah level, the state government has established the Sabah State Covid-19 Immunization Task Force (CITF) and the CITF teams at the district level will be activated.

He said the CITF was established to ensure that the vaccination will be accessible to as many Sabahans as possible within the Phase 1, Phase 2 and Phase 3 stipulated period.

“As of February 19, the cumulative Covid-19 positive cases among health workers were 1,420 cases. This brings the percentage of health workers infected to 2.7% of the total cumulative cases in Sabah,” he said.

“A total of 16,289 cumulative health workers have undergone quarantine since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic in Sabah in March 2020,” he added.

He said a Covid-19 Immunization Program Special Line will be provided to answer any questions related to the vaccination program.

He added that information on the program can also be found on http://vaksincovid.gov.my and the official social media account.