— When there’s a will, there’s a way.

A team of health workers has gone off the beaten track, traversing rugged terrain and dirt roads in mountainous areas on four-wheel-drive vehicles, just to ensure residents in remote Sonsogon get their COVID-19 vaccination.

The 70-km trip to the interiors of Sabah takes about three hours, but for the team of doctors, nurses and non-governmental organisation representatives, this is no obstacle as a sense of duty and a strong determination to get the people of Sonsogon vaccinated come first.

The three-day programme kicked-off yesterday, with the aim of making sure every eligible resident in the five sub-districts in the Sonsogan area get their COVID-19 shots. Kampung Sungai Magandai was their first stop.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Sabah and Sarawak Affairs) Datuk Seri Dr Maximus Ongkili said some 300 residents in the area had been identified as vaccine recipients for the first phase of the Kota Marudu vaccination outreach programme.

“There are 700 residents from eight villages in total in this mountainous region, and 300 of them have been targeted to receive the vaccine,” he said when launching the programme yesterday.

To date, some 15,265 people in Kota Marudu have registered for the vaccination programme via My Sejahtera, with 6,018 of them having received at the first dose while another 1,949 have been fully vaccinated.

Ongkili praised the outreach efforts, and said that it provided the opportunity for communities from rural areas and the interiors to be vaccinated, especially since logistics such as transportation was an issue.

“We hope more will come out and register for this programme,” the Kota Marudu MP said.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency