E-hailing drivers, courier personnel, and delivery riders will be vaccinated starting July according to the National COVID-19 Immunisation Programme (PICK) coordinating minister, Khairy Jamaluddin. This was confirmed in a reply to a question by Abdul Halim Husin, the President of the Malay Chamber of Commerce Malaysia during a virtual engagement with the National Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Malaysia on Thursday.
“We will get around to e-hailing drivers and food delivery riders in July. We will start to vaccinate our friends at Grab, Foodpanda and all the couriers in July,” said the minister. Khairy has also revealed that the ministry has received plenty of applications from different sectors to be considered frontliners.
However, the government is now focusing on the transport sector, with port and cargo workers being prioritised for inoculation starting today due to supply constraints. As per our previous report, PICK has started Phase 4 of the immunisation drive on 16 June, this time targeting economic frontliners.
It is running concurrently with Phase 2 and even Phase 3 in some states. Aside from the transport sector, professions that have received priority for the jab so far include teachers, lawyers, and media practitioners.
(Sources: The Vibes, CodeBlue, Malay Mail [1][2]. Image: NST, Jin Ni / WHO.)
