ALL the management personnel and staff including local subcontractors and suppliers working on the East Coast Rail Link (ECRL) project has been successfully vaccinated.
According to China Communications Construction (ECRL) Sdn Bhd (CCC-ECRL), which is the engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning (EPCC) contractor for the ECRL project, the entire ECRL workforce has at least received the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.
CCC-ECRL aims to complete the two-dose vaccination process by end-September. This is to ensure the personnel actively working at its 164 priority locations – including the excavation works of 10 tunnels – are fully immunised, thus ensuring a steadfast progress of the national megaproject.
Furthermore, the initiative is essential to prevent project delays caused by stringent on-site standard operating procedures (SOPs), including less manpower and shorter working hours, and material delivery delays consequential to the movement control order (MCO) imposed in various states.
“The awareness to get inoculated among the people is high in Terengganu. We have seen a very good turn-out rate for the first dose,” commented Dr Mohd Fauzi Hassan, the person-in-charge from Qualitas Health Group, the healthcare organiser of this vaccination exercise.
“Together with CCC-ECRL, we are happy to help Terengganu moving one step closer to achieving herd immunity with the state’s current rate of complete vaccination at 61.4% as of Sept 7.”
While vaccines for this initiative were provided by the COVID-19 Immunisation Task Force (CITF), all costs involved in the vaccination process – including the set-up costs for the industry vaccination centres (PPVINs) and administrative fees for private medical general practitioners and healthcare personnel – were born by CCC-ECRL and the asset owner of the ECRL project, Malaysia Rail Link Sdn Bhd (MRL).
The vaccination campaign was approved by the Public-Private Partnership COVID-19 Industry Immunisation Programme (PIKAS). It was carried out at the ECRL Dungun and Chukai Base Camps in Terengganu, and CIDB Kuantan between August and September.
Meanwhile, for CCC-ECRL employees within the Klang Valley, inoculation was carried out earlier in July and August under the Construction Industry Vaccination Programme (CIVac) at the CIDB Convention Centre. – Sept 8, 2021
