IT’S really time to do things differently.
The Perikatan Nasional government and Khairy Jamaluddin, the minister in charge of the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme (PICK), are trying, but the vaccine roll-out is slow.
Imagine bodies being kept in containers at Sg Buloh Hospital.
And, stop a moment to take stock of the country’s rising infections, hitting almost 5,000 yesterday.
Or, the number of people needing intensive care and ventilators. Or, the fact that more young people are succumbing to the virus.
These images are chilling.
Public health management is a responsibility of all stakeholders, especially in the time of a pandemic.
The federal government should not consider the national immunisation programme as PN’s monopoly.
Instead, it needs to urgently mobilise the 2,500 clinics across the country that have registered to help facilitate the vaccination process.
In fact, 5,000 general practitioners and their staff have been trained over the last two months, and are awaiting the go-ahead from the Health Ministry.
For now, only 37 clinics have been authorised to administer vaccinations as part of the roll-out.
By engaging all participating clinics in the fight against Covid-19, the government will be able to decentralise the vaccination process and reach out to as many more people as possible.
A second consideration is for the government to encourage private foundations, philanthropists, private and professional groups, and non-governmental organisations to partner national efforts to combat the virus.
Their contributions should not be dismissed.
The availability of more resources means more people can be vaccinated in a shorter time.
‘Abuse of power’
A third strategy as part of a fast-track approach should be to allow state governments to procure vaccines and undertake vaccination, instead of blocking these initiatives using PICK as an excuse.
In fact, this demonstrates abuse of power, as in the case of Penang, and is no different from big pharma opposing the vaccine waiver aimed at saving lives.
The continuing spike in infection numbers is creating doubt about the government’s ability to manage the spread of the virus successfully despite the state of emergency in place.
Slow or delayed vaccination allows the virus to keep spreading, including the risk of mutation, which could result in more deaths.
It will also continue to devastate further our economies and livelihood.
The government has declared an emergency to fight Covid-19, but clearly, the approach to solving the problem is anything but urgent.
And, it gives rise to the suspicion that maybe, some Napoleons are profiting from people’s misery. – The Vibes, May 19, 201
Charles Santiago is MP for Klang
