KUCHING, May 27: Bintulu MP Dato Sri Tiong King Sing is urging the federal government to delegate Covid-19 vaccination registration and appointment scheduling to the Sarawak government, as there have been cases of rural recipients in particular missing vaccine appointments due to poor Internet connection.
Tiong emphasised that this will enable the State government to better and effectively coordinate with the central Health Department and reach out to Sarawakians through flexible channels in order to hasten vaccination towards achieving herd immunity.
In Bintulu District and other rural areas in particular, he said many people were unable to receive notifications of their appointments due to problems with poor internet connectivity.
“There were some who received the notifications a day before the appointment date and were unable to attend the vaccination.
“This is an awkward arrangement. Therefore, the relevant departments must take into consideration the different situations in different regions and implement the corresponding strategies,” he stressed in a statement today.
He also pointed out that some people were also confused about the intervals between vaccine doses of either two or three weeks as those who have received the first dose were notified of the second dose only two weeks later.
Tiong, who is also the Prime Minister’s Special Envoy to China, thus suggested that Coordinating Minister for National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme Khairy Jamaluddin give the Sarawak government more authority to help Sarawakians when making vaccination arrangements.
“Allow the (State) Health Department to assist people in-person to register, instead of insisting that they register on their own through MySejahtera app and wait to be notified.
“We should look for different ways to ensure that we can reach everyone in urban and rural areas, allowing everyone to successfully complete their registrations through flexible channels to effectively obtain their appointment times and dates to get vaccinated,” he said.
As Bintulu is a major industrial area with a large influx of people in which up to 90 per cent of locals have in some way been exposed to the coronavirus, he stressed that it was imperative to accelerate the vaccination drive with a more comprehensive plan.
Tiong urged Khairy not to ignore the unique challenges faced in Sarawak as the vaccination cannot be done in a ‘one size fits all’ manner.
“The Sarawak government should be allowed to tailor strategies to meet the needs of the people here. The federal government cannot restrict Sabah and Sarawak from achieving herd immunity by adopting Peninsular Malaysia’s methods.
“Furthermore, even though people over 60 are supposed to be given priority to receive the vaccine, there are complaints that young people in their 20s have already received their jabs. Such a mess should be reviewed and improved immediately,” he added. — DayakDaily
