Booster dose vaccination at UTAR Kampar Campus

The Pfizer booster dose (third dose) vaccination, conducted in four sessions at UTAR Kampar Campus, was more than just a continuous effort to support the aim of the Malaysian government to vaccinate as many people as it can per day to achieve herd immunity. It was also an effort to help in repositioning health as the top agenda for sustainable development and highlight the need for achieving the targets of Sustainable Development Goal 3: Good health and Well-being.

The University once again collaborated with Pejabat Kesihatan Daerah (PKD) Kampar to conduct the booster dose vaccination at the foyer of Dewan Tun Dr Ling Liong Sik, UTAR Kampar Campus. Held from 9am to 5pm, the booster dose vaccination took place on 26 November 2021, 13 to 14 January 2022, 25 January 2022, and the last session on 25 February 2022. A total of 2,136 doses was administered to vaccinees who were 18 years old and above and had taken their second dose three months prior.

Prior to the booster dose vaccinations, UTAR Kampar Campus also served as a public vaccination centre from 15 July 2021 onwards, for individuals who received their appointments through MySejahtera, in addition to the ongoing Covid-19 Drive-through Vaccination programme that officially kick-started on 21 June 2021. Meanwhile, UTAR Sungai Long Campus in Selangor state started its operation as a vaccination centre from 31 May 2021 onwards at the Multipurpose Hall of UTAR, Sungai Long Campus. For the first week, the number of vaccination doses administered was 400 per day. In total, 383,509 doses of vaccinations were administered by both campuses.

The vaccination site was located in Dewan Tun Dr Ling Liong Sik. On the first day, 32 volunteers were present to assist in screening the symptoms and body temperature, handling registrations, managing crowd control and handling the call centre. The volunteers include UTAR staff and students, as well as the public from the Malaysia Vaccine Support Volunteers (MyVAC) initiative.

Apart from UTAR’s affordable quality education that has provided the community equal access to pursue quality education, the UTAR Hospital is an extension of its effort in giving back to society and contributing to the overall health of society. These efforts also further contribute to the targets outlined in SDGs 1, 3, and 4. The hospital will not only offer affordable and quality basic and specialist medical services to the students and the public but also provide clinical training for the MBBS, TCM and Health Science students in the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences.

The project comprises an initial phase of a hospital-complex with 250 beds for Western Medicine, 100 beds for TCM, and a future phase of additional 250 beds. The Traditional and Complementary Medicine (T&CM) centre began its operation on 7 April 2022, which currently offers services in TCM Internal Medicine; Acupuncture & Moxibustion; Tuina; Gua Sha; and Cupping. Counselling services are also available, and joining that list of services will be the coming Western Medicine, additional Chinese Medicine, Ayurvedic Medicine, and Traditional Malay Medicine services. These services are comprised of facilities for out-patient and in-patient treatment, diagnostics and treatment, medical and non-medical support, research and education, and staff, student and administrative centres.