KUCHING, June 19: Parti Keadilan Rakyat Sarawak (PKR) Women secretary Cherishe Ng is urging the Sarawak government to prioritise the Covid-19 vaccination for the elderly in nursing homes for the elderly throughout the State.
Ng, who is also the PKR potential candidate for Batu Lintang constituency, said following the Covid-19 outbreak in nursery homes for the elderly, the authorities should not neglect them while speeding up its vaccination programme as these are the most vulnerable groups in the community.
“Reports have also been received that smaller nursery homes are facing issues with the authorities in vaccination efforts due to the smaller number of elderly in their homes, and they have been told to wait as others are prioritised.
“All lives matter. Be it large or small, all nursery homes should be treated as equal and their residents vaccinated without prejudice,” she said in a press statement today.
Ng said this in response to a report of 26 confirmed positive Covid-19 cases and two deaths, which happened in two nursing homes for the elderly in Kuching, recently.
According to her, private-owned nursery homes for the aged have mushroomed over recent years, outnumbering those funded by the Government.
She pointed out that since most residents of nursing homes are finding it hard to move around due to old age, the government should reach out to these groups by dispatching vaccination teams to the nursery homes.
“Should the Government take a proactive plan to get all the aged and elderly vaccinated in the first place, the incidences of wide-spread infection and tragic deaths could have been prevented altogether,” she reiterated. —DayakDaily
