KUALA LUMPUR – It was a Friday to remember for visually impaired Ho Siew Wah, who overcame his fear of needles to receive his first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine.
“I did not feel excited the night before my vaccination appointment; I felt scared,” the 52-year-old telephone operator told The Vibes.
“Honestly, when it comes to injections and needles, I feel scared.”
Asked if he has any advice for other persons with disabilities (PwDs), Ho said: “Don’t be afraid.”
Sooner or later, he said, even if an individual does not register for vaccination, they will still have to be immunised.
Ho and his fellow visually impaired friends received their shots at the Malaysian Association for the Blind (MAB) headquarters in Brickfields here yesterday.
MAB’s Dewan Ismail Salleh and car-park area – now tented – have been converted into a vaccination centre (PPV) to inoculate 200 people a day on weekdays.
This PPV is the country’s first to cater to the visually impaired.
MAB chief executive George Thomas said the jab site, in Jalan Tebing off Jalan Tun Sambanthan 4, will be open until mid-July to vaccinate as many community members as possible.
“We hope more will come forward to sign up for vaccination.
“Around Kuala Lumpur alone, there are about 3,000 visually impaired people registered with the association.
“With MAB, we have received only over 1,000 requests. Including caregivers, we have only 1,800 already registered.”
Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Seri Rina Mohd Harun last week said a drive-through PPV for PwDs will be set up to expedite the immunisation programme.
She said it is expected to operate at a location in the Klang Valley in the second week of this month, in collaboration with the private sector, under the auspices of Senator Datuk Ras Adiba Radzi. – The Vibes, June 5, 2021
