KUCHING, March 5: All complaints and reports of Covid-19 vaccine queue-cutters must be investigated transparently, rather than threatening and instilling fear in frontliners who spoke up.
This is the view of Bandar Kuching MP Dr Kelvin Yii as he expressed concerns on a circular released by the Ministry of Health (MoH) following several social media posts by a medical officer showing pictures of vaccine queue-jumpers.
In the statement issued by MoH yesterday (March 4), the Ministry warned its health officers against making any public statement through any social media platform without the Ministry’s permission, otherwise disciplinary actions would be imposed upon them if found guilty.
This, it added, is not aimed to stop any of their officers from voicing out, but to ensure that MOH employees raise issues through the right feedback and complaint channels while maintaining the image and credibility of officers, civil servants and the government.
Responding to this, Dr Yii asserted that MoH should be looking seriously at those allegations and not going after those who brought up the complaints.
“The government should not just praise these frontliners and make them look like heroes in the fight against Covid-19 when it is convenient for them, but when it is not, make threats of disciplinary actions against them,” he said in a statement today.
Further commenting on MoH’s advice to voice out through official channels, he said, many of such complaints through the right channels have been easily brushed aside until they were exposed by the media.
In pointing this out, he said it is important so as to not give the perception that the complaints may likely be swept under the carpet without proper investigation when they involve certain individuals.
“That is why we ask that these whistle blowers and frontliners be given adequate protection from any form of disciplinary actions especially this one particular medical officer who is being targeted by certain irresponsible quarters for her social media posts.
“At the same time, all reports of queue-jumpers must be investigated transparently and those proven to have cut the queue should be exposed in public and the necessary actions be taken against them as a lesson to all as well as to instil confidence to the public that there are no double standards in the implementation of the NCIP (National Covid-19 Immunisation Program),” said Dr Yii. — DayakDaily
