KUALA LUMPUR – The government must ramp up its efforts to vaccinate the country’s population as the announcement of the movement control order (MCO) has raised doubts among many quarters, an economist and health expert said.
Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd chief economist Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said many parties are now questioning the effectiveness of the present measures as the national vaccination drive appears to be moving at a pace slower than expected.
“In all honesty, I think it is a delicate balance between health and the economy. Therefore, setting the right priorities would be a good start for managing the public health crisis,” Afzanizam told The Vibes.
“In light of this, the vaccination programme has to be accelerated and we need to embrace the new normal fully, which will heavily leverage on technology.”
Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Khairy Jamaluddin had on January 27 said that the government aimed to immunise 75,000 people a day across 600 vaccination sites.
However, it is reported the country is currently averaging only about 25,000 jabs per day since the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme began in March.
On Monday, Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin had announced that all of Malaysia will be placed under MCO from today until June 7.
He had also announced restrictions on interstate and inter-district travel, as well as prohibitions on education, social, and sports activities.
Muhyiddin had said all economic sectors will remain open throughout the lockdown. This comes despite a majority of clusters originating in the workplace, factories and construction sites.
According to a report by CodeBlue in April, factories account for 48.06% of these clusters and construction sites 11.56%.
However, while many have criticised the government’s move to keep workplaces running, Afzanizam said the country might lose its competitiveness if key sectors were to shut down, given that the global economy is recovering.
He said during the first lockdown in the second quarter of last year, the country’s gross domestic product fell by 17.2% year-on-year.
He said this tranlates to RM60.3 billion worth of output loss during that quarter.
However, the economy recovered, as restrictions were eased, and the country saw a -2.7% GDP growth rate amounting to -RM9.7 billion in Q3 2020, -3.4% totalling -RM12.7 billion in Q4 2020, and 0.5% at RM1.6 billion in Q1 2021.
Fourth wave of Covid-19?
An expert and doctor who declined to be named said the country is on the cusp of entering the fourth wave of the pandemic.
However, he said although many parties have decried the government’s move to impose another lockdown, MCO 3.0 is an opportunity to take decisive action to fully mitigate the spread of Covid-19.
“Whether we like it or not, we are already in the fourth wave (of the pandemic). It has not peaked yet, but it is getting there,” he told The Vibes.
“Despite the fallacies and shortcomings, now is the time to ramp up efforts. If we’re going to have MCO 3.0, let’s get it right this time.”
The expert was commenting on the latest MCO and the government’s decision to allow factories and construction sites to proceed with operations, despite clusters emerging from these sectors.
“There are also a lot of the workers in factories, where cases are stemming from. The MCO could help bring the cases down, but it will only be a temporary measure,” the expert said.
“The permanent fixture would be to ensure we beef up our healthcare system facilities and ensure that vaccinations continue to take place,” he said.
He added that the government should target to vaccinate up to 50% of the population during MCO 3.0.
“As much as priority is being given to reduce cases, there should be an equal focus on vaccinations, so that, at the end of the day, we can avoid deaths and mounting cases in ICUs (intensive care units).” – The Vibes, May 12, 2021
