PUTRAJAYA: Those scheduled to receive Covid-19 vaccine jabs at the Ideal Convention Centre (IDCC) in Shah Alam should attend their appointments as the vaccination centre (PPV) reopens today after a temporary closure.
National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme coordinating minister Khairy Jamaluddin said all the staffers at the PPV had been replaced with a new workforce following the discovery of an outbreak among the workers.
“This is the first time we had to shut down a PPV because of positive cases, but we acted fast by shutting down Tuesday and taking corrective measures by replacing the personnel, sanitising the PPV and rescheduling.
“Because of the pre-emptive actions we took, it would be safe for people to come from Wednesday onwards,” Khairy told a virtual press conference yesterday.
IDCC is a mega PPV and its one-day closure affected about 6,000 appointments yesterday.
Khairy said people who were supposed to get their jabs at IDCC yesterday should get their new appointment dates via SMS.
Staff members were also present at the PPV yesterday to assist people who came but were unaware of the closure.
During the shutdown, sanitisation was conducted by the Fire and Rescue Department.
The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health was also instructed to check the ventilation system at the centre.
Khairy said those receiving their vaccinations are reminded to constantly adhere to Covid-19 standard operating procedure to prevent infection.
“Apply physical distancing at all times. Come to your appointments on time, do not come too early.
“Also, leave as soon as your vaccination is completed to minimise the exposure time at a public place,” said Khairy.
The outbreak at the PPV was discovered when a mass screening exercise found that nearly half of the workers were infected.
The mass screening was conducted on July 10 after two volunteers were found to be positive.
Khairy said all the 204 confirmed cases had no serious symptoms and low infectivity levels.
“The RT-PCR (polymerase chain reaction) tests of those who were infected showed that their Ct value is more than 35, which means their viral load is low,” he said.
Patients with low viral loads are less likely to be contagious.
Khairy said about 400 or 88% of the 453 workers at the IDCC PPV had been vaccinated.
Due to the high number of infections in the Klang Valley, he said it was difficult to know if the staff were infected at the PPV or elsewhere.
However, as a precautionary measure, those who received their jabs at the PPV between July 9 (4pm onwards) and July 12 are urged to monitor their health situation for the next 10 days.
“If you start developing symptoms, you should go for a test.
“The symptoms for Covid-19 are not the same as the side effects you get from vaccinations.
“The symptoms are like continuous coughing or loss of smell and taste,” said Khairy.-The Star