KOTA KINABALU – The registration and uptake of Covid-19 vaccines in Sabah remains the lowest in Malaysia despite reports that the state would be given priority when it comes to the supply of vaccines, said Sepanggar MP Datuk Azis Jamman.
He said the latest numbers from the Covid-19 Vaccine Supply Access Guarantee Special Committee (JKJAV) show that Sabah’s immunisation rate remains the lowest in Malaysia.
While the state aims to achieve herd immunity by inoculating 2.7 million people by year-end, the numbers from JKJAV showed only 9.7%, or 378,840 just Sabahans, have been fully vaccinated as of Saturday.
The committee also reported that only 618,405, or 15.8%, had received the first dose.
“This is unacceptable. I wish to stress the failure of the current (state) government to acquire enough vaccines for Sabahans.
“Only this many people have been vaccinated and Sabah has the second-largest population in the country with 3,912,600 million,” he told The Vibes.
The former deputy home minister also said the state government is failing when it comes to registering people for the vaccination programme.
The committee’s latest data showed another 18,948 more people have registered, leading to a total number to 1,059,803 registrations.
This is only 38.4% of the state government’s Covid-19 vaccination registration target while most Malaysian states have achieved close to 80% registration.
“Not all Sabah areas have internet access and therefore they could not register online,” Azis pointed out.
Sabah Covid-19 spokesman Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun had said that the state is expected to receive over a million Covid-19 vaccine doses this month and another 1.1 million doses in August.
Azis also took a swipe at the double standards practiced by enforcement officers in slapping heavy fines on ordinary Malaysians while letting government leaders off the hook.
“When it comes to regular Malaysians, it’s straight to issuing compounds, but for government leaders they say they would investigate first.
“Even if they were fined the penalty is lower than for regular people. It is the government which has formulated laws, but it is often those behind it who violate them,” he said.
Earlier, Azis, six other MPs and civil society representatives lodged a police report against members of the cabinet and in particular Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Adham Baba, for their failure in combating the Covid-19 menace.
The report was lodged under Section 269 and 304A of the Penal Code over their negligence that could spread infectious diseases, and negligence causing death not amounting to culpable homicide.
Others who made a similar report were Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan, Datin Marina Mahathir, Fahmi Fadzil, Hannah Yeoh, Dr. Kelvin Yii, Charles Santiago, Isnaraissah Munirah Majilis and Maria Chin Abdullah. – The Vibes, July 26, 2021
