Rope in Private Clinics and Hospitals for National Vaccination

PEOPLE who have been waiting to be vaccinated since they registered for the National Vaccination program in February are running out of patience with the delay.

With no appointment in sight, many have stepped up to urge the government to rope in private clinics and hospitals to increase the number of vaccination centres in the community.

In a survey carried out by SJEcho – MCO 3.0: Turning the Tide in Subang Jaya, 21.8% of 142 people polled said they had been vaccinated.

Out of 118 polled, 62.7% had registered with MySejahtera while another 32.2% had registered with both MySejahtera and Selangor’s Selangkah. Only 5 respondents had not registered for the vaccination.

The majority of the 142 also believed that the current Movement Control Order which was scheduled to end by June 7 would not be lifted. The 134 who said so are right on with their expectations – on June 1, the whole country will head for a total lockdown.

Rosie Wee, Noel Joseph Masilamany and Yoke Har are among many who polled who have called for the government to assign the rollout of the vaccination to private clinics and hospitals to speed up the process. USJ resident Shah Reza Samat wants the government to encourage private companies to purchase the vaccine for their employees and provide tax relief for the efforts.

Another resident Chris Lee Chee Kiean has a bright spark of an idea, “..the vaccination program can also be expedited by having more centres similar to our election polling centres locations…..this will enable the public to go to the nearest centres to get vaccinated!”

Many like Yap Chin Kwan have called on the authorities to allow the public to purchase the vaccine and do away with the delays of waiting for the free quota.

In the poll, resident Tan Cheng See urged the government to, “make the process simpler for senior citizens who may not be savvy with digital devices to register for vaccination.” USJ2 resident Ramlah Ahmad urged the government not leave out senior citizens in old folks homes and the special needs population. Her opinion was echoed by Caroline who suggested that home vaccinations be carried out for senior citizens to minimise the risk of exposure at vaccination centres.

Judy Tan expressed her hope that people can be allowed to select their preferred vaccine while Nash A. Hamid said vaccination centres should accept walk-ins.

Many respondents like Lore Yuen Shoon want vaccination to be made mandatory for everyone in the country.

The majority of those polled urged everyone to obey the MCO SOPs and to stay home during the lockdown to help flatten the curve; and to save lives.

The overall conclusion derived from the poll indicates that people are getting tired of the delays in the vaccination process despite having signed up for it from the beginning when called upon to do so. They feel shortchanged by the delay while living in fear of the risk of infection with every passing day.

Most people polled want the government to pull up their socks and not give excuses for the delay. The majority are willing to pay for their own vaccination to protect themselves.