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KUALA LUMPUR: Those who do not attend the appointment to receive the Covid-19 vaccine without reasonable reasons can be prosecuted, said Director General of Health (DG) Tan Sri, Dr. Noor Hisham Abdullah (pix).
He said this was to avoid waste, as the diluted Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine could not be stored for use on other days due to its shelf life of no more than six hours.
“Even on the day of surgery, 15 percent of cases are not present for surgery. The absence, even for scheduled vaccination, is a “waste of resources and manpower” because we have made all the preparations.
“Action can be taken if (the person) is not present. As in other countries, those who cut the vaccine queue (also) can be fined. For now, we have not thought about what kind of action (we will take) … but something can be done, ”he said.
He said this during a virtual media engagement session today, which was also attended by Deputy Director of Health (Research and Technical Support) Datuk Dr. Hishamshah Mohd Ibrahim as moderator.
He said that those who could not keep the appointment, especially for the second dose, must inform at least three days in advance so that the new date can be scheduled.
“If there is a last minute cancellation, we will have to find a way that the vaccine just doesn’t go to waste … there may be a ‘waiting list’ so that we can give it to others. Rather than being thrown away, we may be able to give it to those on the front lines who have not yet had a chance to take vaccines, including our medical staff, ”he said, reminding Malaysians to appreciate, and not waste, vaccines.
Dr. Noor Hisham said that the government also did not intend to commercialize the COVID-19 vaccine in the country by allowing private companies to sell it.
He said that no company is licensed to sell it, adding that the Ministry of Health (MOH) itself will supply the vaccines to all hospitals, including private hospitals, which would be delivered to people free of charge.
“The companies that sell the vaccines sell them ‘directly’ to the government and not to private companies. We will not allow their commercialization (of vaccines) since otherwise the rich will receive the vaccines first and others will have to wait.
“Interpol also informed us that fake vaccines already exist … so after someone gets vaccinated, they need to scan the ‘barcode’ to find out which vaccine has been taken with the serial number,” he said.
Meanwhile, Dr. Noor Hisham said that standard operating procedures (SOPs) can be relaxed, including interstate restrictions and even country borders, if at least 70 to 80 percent of people in the country have been vaccinated.
He said that if people’s adherence to standard operating procedures and the intake of vaccines go hand-in-hand, group immunity is expected to be successfully established in the country in the next six to nine months.
“Currently, we cannot allow the flexibility, including ‘immunity passports’, to leave the country. If our country and other countries have achieved group immunity, we will probably consider it but we need proof, ”he said.
Meanwhile, Dr. Noor Hisham said that the MySejahtera app was the only official government app used for vaccine registration.
Through the app too, he said that the public can report if they have symptoms or side effects after receiving the injections.
Dr. Noor Hisham also said that he is investigating the need to create a “dashboard” in the app to display the latest number of those who take the hits.
“Right now our data is well maintained and everyone uses MySejahtera … this app officially collects data and we can use this data on the dashboard to inform people,” he added.
Meanwhile, the senior deputy director of the Division of Disease Control of the Ministry of Health, Dr. A. Maheshwara Rao, who also participated in the media participation session, said that so far more than a million people have been They had registered with MySejahtera to receive the vaccines and that the ministry was aiming for nearly 300,000 registrations a year. day.
According to him, the ‘add dependents’ feature in the app is expected to launch on MySejahtera in the second week of March, allowing users to register family members, especially their elderly parents. – Called
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