KUALA LUMPUR – Teachers and journalists have yet to receive their coronavirus vaccines although the government has promised that they will be prioritised in Phase 2 of the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme, said former deputy education minister Teo Nie Ching.
Teo in a statement said coordinating minister Khairy Jamaluddin made the announcement to prioritise teachers and journalists in the vaccination drive in a Twitter post on March 25.
Khairy promised that all teachers will be prioritised for Phase 2 of the programme, she added.
“Two months (have gone by) since the announcement, and we demand to know how many teachers have been vaccinated, as I have received many complaints from teachers that they are still waiting for their vaccines.
“As a matter of fact, teachers are not the only ones who are still waiting for their vaccines.
“Despite being promised that they, too, will be given priority in Phase 2 in April, journalists have yet to get their jab.”
The Kulai MP said the Covid-19 Vaccine Supply Access Guarantee Special Committee had earlier announced that Malaysia will receive at least four million vaccine doses this month.
However, the health minister had on May 6 announced that Malaysia will instead receive 3.52 million Covid-19 vaccine doses from three suppliers – Pfizer-BioNtech, Sinovac and AstraZeneca – this month, she added.
“The question is: how many vaccines did we actually receive in May? Despite being asked by many quarters, we do not seem to know how many vaccines we currently possess.”
Teo said several announcements suggest that the country received only around 2.1 million doses this month – a far cry from the committee’s projection or the health minister’s announcement.
“Malaysians deserve to know how many vaccines we currently possess, and if we have received the amount of vaccines that we are expecting.
“At the same time, teachers, journalists and other Malaysians deserve to know when they will get their shots.” – The Vibes, May 30, 2021
