‘Halting GPs in vaccine drive only temporary’

KUALA LUMPUR – The move to halt vaccinations by general practitioners (GPs) in the country’s National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme (PICK) is temporary.
 
The ministries of Health (MoH) and Science, Technology, and Innovation (Mosti), in a statement today, said the decision was also made after considering various factors, including data related to vaccination centres’ (PPV) capacity, total vaccines administered, vaccine supply and the percentage of the population that still require immunisation.
 
“The situation is only temporary and in line with the implementation of PICK, which is to ensure the vaccination rates are high and done as swiftly as possible,” the ministries said.
 
“The vaccination rates will reduce in phases when more people receive Covid-19 vaccines.”
 
The statement was jointly signed by Health Director-General Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah and Mosti secretary-general Datuk Siti Hamisah Tapsir.
 
The ministries said the involvement of GPs began in May when Health Ministry-owned ProtectHealth invited them to join PICK. It said 1,688 out of some 7,000 GPs nationwide were roped in for the effort.
 
They said until August 24, a total of 32,212,527 doses have been administered, of which nearly 1,087,813 doses were undertaken by GPs.
 
Besides GPs, they said another 471 organisations comprising private hospitals, private venues, NGOs and industry players were involved in PICK.
 
They said integrated PPVs were run by private entities, such as the one at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre, which is able to give 23,000 doses daily with the involvement of 576 officials and 192 injection staff.
 
In the Klang Valley, 438,812 doses were administered by 760 GPs, while 54 PPVs were run by health care organisations (HCOs), of which 45 were among consortiums of GPs, clinic networks, private hospitals and university hospitals.
 
“The involvement of GPs has contributed to the success of the recent Capacity Surge Operation, which has seen a large portion of the Klang Valley population vaccinated.”
 
They said the Klang Valley has seen 109.6% of the registered population receiving their first dose, while at least 86% have completed the second dose.
 
The figure exceeding 100% for the first dose due largely to foreign workers and residents outside the Klang Valley registering in the area or were walk-in recipients at PPVs.
 
“We acknowledge that random surveys show that there are still many in the Klang Valley who have not yet been vaccinated. The same goes for new registrations for PICK, which are still received through MySejahtera.
 
“For the record, most of these new registrations are from foreigners, so we need to ensure that a temporary arrangement is taken into account for the smooth running of PICK.”
 
They said the involvement of GPs in areas outside the Klang Valley is running as usual for the time being.
 
“In future, requirements such as booster doses, adolescent vaccination (ages 12-17 years) as well as continuous vaccination for new registrants will fall under the MoH.” – The Vibes, August 26, 2021