KOTA BARU: The Fire and Rescue Department has made it compulsory for all its 14,500 staff members to be vaccinated against Covid-19.
Its director-general Datuk Seri Mohammad Hamdan Wahid said so far, 90 per cent of the firemen in the country had been inoculated.
"Firemen are the first responders in any operation. For their health safety, we have made it compulsory for them to be vaccinated.
"About 90 per cent of the firemen nationwide have completed their vaccination doses. The remaining 10 per cent have yet to be vaccinated due to several factors, including health problems.
"But we will have all of them vaccinated soon," Mohammad Hamdan told reporters when met at Kelantan Fire and Rescue Department's headquarters in Tunjong here today.
He said it was important for the firemen to get vaccinated as they were the first to be involved in rescue operations during disasters such as floods.
"Apart from wearing the personal protective equipment, they will have to undergo Covid-19 RT-PCR tests regularly."
He said as of yesterday, 125 firemen were tested positive for Covid-19 and currently placed under home quarantine.
"Majority of the infections took place within communities (clusters) and not during work."