by SHAHEERA AZNAM SHAH / pic by TMR FILE

THE second phase of the Construction Industry Vaccination Programme (CIVac) is expected to take place from Aug 5 to Sept 15 with 55,000 construction workers in Penang and Johor.

Works Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof said the programme will also be expanded to construction workers in Pahang and Sabah.

“Phase 2 of CIVac will involve 30,000 construction workers from Penang and 25,000 from Johor.

“The registration for the second phase opened on July 12 and all slots in Johor have been fully booked while the Penang registration is still ongoing with 22,800 slots have been taken so far,” he said in a statement yesterday.

The registration for 20,000 construction workers in both Pahang and Sabah will begin on July 25 and July 31 respectively.

The first phase of CIVac started on July 1 in Kuala Lumpur (KL) and Selangor with a target of vaccinating 40,000 local and foreign construction workers.

As of July 20, some 24,106 workers or 60.26% of the total employees who have registered with the CIVac programme have received the first dose of the vaccine.

To meet the large demand, the ministry is applying for an additional vaccine provision from the Covid-19 Immunisation Task Force for 300,000 construction workers, Fadillah said.

“This includes additional vaccines for 65,000 construction workers in KL and 30,000 in Selangor.

“The increase in the vaccine quota will continue to be applied based on current demand by the construction industry,” he added.

Fadillah said the Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) will also provide a mobile vaccination centre should the programme require additional facilities.

CIVac, which is being implemented by CIDB Holdings Sdn Bhd, administered by CIDB Malaysia and led by the Works Ministry, aims at accelerating the vaccination process among the construction workers and assisting in expediting the country’s mission to achieve herd immunity.