MELAKA, Aug 28 — Night and morning markets in Melaka will only be allowed to operate after all traders and employees have received two-dose of COVID-19 vaccine, said Melaka Chief Minister Datuk Seri Sulaiman Md Ali.
He said this was to ensure the safety of the public and was in line with the state government’s efforts to achieve herd immunity by October.
“The state government is actively expediting vaccination of the relevant groups through the Retail Industry Vaccination Programme (RiVAC) as well as private collaboration with local authorities (PBT).
“The state Special Committee on COVID-19 will also make an assessment as soon as possible to ensure that the night and morning market operations can be carried out as soon as possible,” he said, adding that the state government was still waiting for data on the number of traders who had been vaccinated.
Earlier, he inspected the two-day MPHTJ Hawker, Trader and Tenant Vaccination and Trauma Programme starting today, involving about 1,500 vaccine recipients.
The programme is a collaboration with Petronas Cubprix, Mercy Malaysia, Ministry of Health and Multimedia University.
Sulaiman also said the state had achieved 50 per cent complete vaccination for adults aged 18 and above and was confident that Melaka would move to Phase Two of the National Recovery Plan (PPN) by September.
However, he said the matter was subject to the decision of the National Security Council (MKN) meeting.
“I am confident that after this there will be a meeting of the National Security Council and we request that Melaka be moved to Phase Two when the threshold value is re-evaluated on states that have achieved 50 per cent vaccination.
“At the same time, this transition will be faster if the scheduled vaccine reaches Melaka as scheduled,” he said.
