GEORGE TOWN – In light of the record-breaking 1,022 Covid-19 cases in Penang today, it is critical to allow the administration to manage Covid-19 appointments instead of utilising MySejahtera, said state health exco Dr Norlela Ariffin.
She said that from the Penang Covid-19 Screening exercise, the state was able to analyse where most of the cases were coming from, plot significant trends, and see infection rates by district.
Dr Norlela told The Vibes that there is a flaw with MySejahtera’s algorithm-based appointments, as Penang is one of Malaysia’s smaller states and that the next district with vaccination centres can be only 10 minutes away from an individual’s location.
She also said that the Penang administration can do a better job if it is allowed to take over MySejahtera’s appointment-making function.
“If we can take over and be in charge of vaccination appointments, we can channel and administer these vaccines to people living in high-risk areas before we see a drop in cases.”
At the same time, she said that they will be ramping up vaccinations so the number of cases will drop.
Based on the data on hand, most of the cases and clusters have come from the Seberang Prai Tengah district.
The exco requested to increase the vaccinations in that particular location.
“I had a meeting with Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Khairy Jamaluddin today to decentralise MySejahtera vaccination appointments.
“I have also been tasked to organise more outreach vaccination centres at the red zones, even for hawkers and traders,” she said.
Dr Norlela said that the administration cannot simply order a blanket closure on all factories, as some of the manufacturers recorded only a small number of cases.
Therefore, she said, a closure requires a targeted approach because most factories have inoculated nearly all their workers.
“It is not fair because most of the factories have almost all of their workers vaccinated under the Public-Private Partnership Covid-19 Industry Immunisation Programme (Pikas). They have paid for vaccination, and it is currently being executed.
“We have the highest number of vaccination centres under Pikas, and now we have PVac, another form of public-private strategic cooperation to accelerate the vaccination process among economic sector workers.”
However, she said the authorities should not slack in making the needed investigations at factories allowed to operate under the International Trade and Industry Ministry.
Dr Norlela said that people should also look at the severity of the cases reported every day, as many of those infected with Covid-19 do not have symptoms and can be quarantined at home alone.
That, she said, shows that the vaccine is working. – The Vibes, August 5, 2021
