KUCHING, Sept 11: Democratic Action Party (DAP) member Julian Tan is suggesting to the State government to utilised bigger venues such as the Borneo Convention Centre Kuching (BCCK) to run the teen vaccination drive in Kuching as well as increasing the manpower and resources to reduce congestion and ensure a smooth and speedy vaccination drive.
Tan pointed out that larger venues are better not only to ensure physical distancing measures can be implemented to prevent the spread of Covid-19 but also more convenient and comfortable for parents, children, frontliners and volunteers.
“The PPVs such as BCCK which are much bigger and well-equipped can continue to be used to run the (Covid-19) vaccination programme for students,” he said in a statement today.
This suggestion came following his visit to the SJK Chung Hua Pending and Dewan Majma PPV which are currently running the teen vaccination drives for 16 to 17-years-old, where he observed occurrence of bottleneck in the flow of the vaccination process due to early arrivals of recipients as well as shortage of manpower and resources.
Tan, who is special assistant to Chong Chieng Jen, thus urged parents and children to arrive at the PPVs about 30 minutes early before their appointment time.
“At SJK Chung Hua Pending, the staff told us that the initial build-up of the crowd was mainly due to students arriving early with some before the operation started and some not according to their allocated time.
“When we arrive at around 11am, the crowd has significantly reduced.
“Today from 7.30am to 10am, the frontliners managed to achieve a commendable vaccination rate of nearly 400 students. By noon, the PPV was only around 60 per cent filled,” he said.
The former Stampin member of parliament (MP) also observed that the bottleneck in the entire vaccination process occurred at the data entry stage and thus urged the government to increase the manpower and resources to address the issue.
“More laptops and volunteers are needed on this part. The relevant authorities need to rally more volunteers to help by rotating them between shifts. Perhaps, the government can also consider allowing qualified members of the public to volunteer to address the current lack of staff,” he suggested.
With the help from Bandar Kuching MP Dr Kelvin Yii’s office, he also donated some standing fans and extension cords to ease the discomfort due to the hot weather.
Tan also thanked the dedicated frontliners and teacher volunteers who were involved and assistant in the smooth running of the vaccination programme for students.— DayakDaily
