On November 5, 2021, the teams behind the Adolescent COVID-19 Vaccination Centre at ISKL celebrated the end of its clinic’s operations located at the ISKL Ampang Hilir campus.
YBhg. Datuk Dr. Param Jeeth Singh, State Director of Health, Federal Territory Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya Health Department, who visited the Centre on its opening day on September 29, 2021, described it as “An important milestone in our fight against COVID-19”.
During the five weeks of operations, more than 11,000 first and second doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID vaccine were given to students aged 12-17 years as part of Malaysia’s National COVID-19 Immunisation Programme.
Aside from the ISKL team involved in the process, teams from the Ministry of Health, Ministry of Education, District Health Office, NGT Solutions, and ProtectHealth Corporation (a private medical subsidiary of the Ministry of Health) collaborated from day one to vaccinate as many students as possible.
“Our heartiest gratitude to ISKL for all the hard work, sacrifice, time, and space you have extended to our schools during the vaccination exercise at ISKL,” said the Education Director and Private Education Unit of the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur Education Department (JPWPKL). He added, “We hope that ISKL will continue to serve the community in the future and become an example for others to follow should the need arise.”
Datuk J.L. Solomon, Executive Chairman of NGT Solutions (M) Sdn Bhd, also visited the school and presented a plaque to ISKL’s Head of School, Rami Madani, in honor of his appreciation for the school’s support and cooperation in the running of the Vaccination Centre for the broader community.
“We were delighted to have this opportunity to work in partnership with authorities and to support neighboring schools as well as our own. It speaks to ISKL’s mission of working in partnership with communities around us,” shared Rami.
Rami also added that he greatly appreciated both parents and staff volunteers who answered the school’s call for assistance. “Their response and willingness to help typifies ISKL’s spirit of community involvement and care for others. We are also delighted to have the support from parents and staff from neighboring schools – it’s a wonderful example of communities working together in partnership,” he added.
On arrival at the Vaccination Centre, students were greeted by the many cheerful faces of parent and staff volunteers from both ISKL and neighboring schools. Over 100 volunteers assisted daily with registration and screening before the vaccines were administered and were thanked for their efforts by Rami and Ann Marie Simpson, Director of Risk Management & Student Services, at a Volunteer Appreciation event held on the last day of the clinic’s operations.
ISKL parent and volunteer Lynette MacDonald shares, “It’s been so rewarding to be part of the team and help with the fight against COVID. There has been a wonderful feeling of camaraderie amongst everyone working at the Centre, and it has been so enjoyable to meet parents and students from schools in the area.” She adds, ” I loved seeing so many happy faces, especially when their second dose was completed, and am thrilled to do my part to support the vaccination rollout.”
High School (HS) student Rika S. (’24), who received her vaccine shot at the Center, said, “It’s great that ISKL is a Vaccination Centre because we have such great facilities, and it’s good to be used for our community as well as the KL community. I was delighted that we got approved as a Centre.”
Furthermore, thanks to our long-term alliances with refugee communities and HS student community partnership clubs, with the approval of the District Health Office, the ISKL team arranged for the vaccination of more than 600 students from over 15 different non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and Refugee Learning Centers in Kuala Lumpur. Again, this involved the assistance of parent and staff volunteers who coordinated arrangements with the Centres and transport by ISKL’s bus contractor, Pandu Jaya, to bring students to and from the Centre.
In addition, as part of ISKL’s compliance with inclusion, the Vaccination Centre was also equipped to administer vaccines to special needs students in the district who require additional care.
Many thanks to all our ISKL operations teams, volunteer parents, and staff for a fantastic job well done. We are incredibly proud of how our community has come together on this journey to ensure the successful vaccination process of students from ISKL and neighboring schools – a tremendous effort by all!
ISKL was selected as the first international school Vaccination Centre in Kuala Lumpur and commenced operations from September 29 until November 5, 2021. Our large gymnasium, ‘The Jungle,” was transformed into a clinic with the capacity to administer around 1,000 vaccinations daily.
To date, more than 92% of ISKL students aged 12 years old and above have been vaccinated.
