KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 8 — Singapore’s contribution of more than 100,000 Covid-19 vaccine doses to Johor will be prioritised for Singaporean citizens living in the state, Hasni Mohammad said.
The Johor menteri besar told the state legislative assembly Monday that Singapore would be giving Johor an additional 100,640 doses of Pfizer-BioNTech’s vaccine “soon”, after having donated about 20,000 Sinovac doses to the state on July 29.
“In fact, these vaccines will be given priority to Singaporeans in Johor,” Hasni told CodeBlue yesterday.
When asked why he had announced Singapore’s vaccine contribution to Johor, Hasni said: “I’ve spoken to both ministers — Malaysia and Singapore — when the donation was decided.”
Singaporean media reports about the republic’s coronavirus vaccine contributions to Johor drew flak on social media, as some Singaporeans questioned why their government was sending shots to Johor amid purported waitlists for Sinovac jabs in Singapore.
There are some 5,000 Singaporean families living in Johor, according to a 2014 estimate by the Johor-Singapore Community Care Association.
Johor, one of the states battling a surge of Covid-19 outbreaks, has been reporting more than 1,000 daily infections since July 29, including a 24-hour record high 2,785 cases on August 26.
Daily coronavirus-related fatalities in Johor have been logged in the double digits since July 22, including a record-high 64 deaths on August 22. Last Monday, Johor reported 63 fatalities. To date, Johor has fully vaccinated 40 per cent of its total population, below the national average of about 50 per cent.
