KUCHING, June 20: Stateless persons in Sarawak must be scrutinised by relevant authorities prior to being given Covid-19 vaccines, says Deputy Chief Minister Tan Sri Dr James Jemut Masing.
He noted that the “jab first, register later” initiative is applicable only to rural or semi-urban residents where the MySejahtera app is not applicable or Internet coverage is poor.
He cautioned the initiative should not be taken in any way as a green light for stateless persons to just walk into any vaccination centre (PPV) without following proper procedure.
He urged social activists and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) get their facts correct before making assumptions about Sarawak’s vaccination standard operating procedures (SOPs).
“Please note that stateless persons can’t simply just walk into any PPV and hope to get Covid-19 jab.
“In areas close to the border, vaccination will be given only to those, with no proper documents, after being scrutinised by relevant agencies like the Resident and District offices, Penghulu, Tuai Rumah, Tuai Kampung or elected representatives,” he said in a statement today.
He added that such scrutiny is necessary because the government understands that there are those who are born in Sarawak but are still without proper documentation.
“We don’t want to deny them of the required Covid-19 vaccination but if we are not careful in implementing the initiative, we may have an influx of non-Malaysians from across the border who will just walk in through rat trails to get the Covid-19 jab. That will be disastrous to our resources!” he emphasised. — DayakDaily
