KUALA LUMPUR – Health Director-General Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah has rubbished a media report saying that Serdang Hospital plans to include influencers and administrators in first recipient pool of the Covid-19 vaccine.
He clarified in a tweet that the said influencers are the hospital’s own clinical department heads, and that the move is to encourage its staff to be vaccinated.
In a separate press statement, Dr Noor Hisham said the inoculation of these clinical department heads is meant to set a good example for other frontliners.
He maintained that the vaccine roll-out will be done according to plan, and that there will be no issue of “cutting queues”.
“These head of departments are expert clinical consultants in their respective fields, and are sure to be exposed to Covid-19 as they are in frequent contact with patients and families when on duty.
“The ministry would like to stress that the administering of vaccines will be done according to priority. Cutting queues to be vaccinated is not allowed, and it will be investigated for further action.”
Earlier today, Malaysiakini reported that Serdang Hospital has planned to include three influencers in the first batch of Covid-19 vaccine recipients tomorrow, but did not reveal these influencers’ identities or that they are medical frontliners with huge social media followings.
The report also quoted sources as saying that senior hospital administrators who do not have direct contact with patients have also been slated to be vaccinated first.
Dr Noor Hisham described the report as “fake and untrue”, and urged the media to be more careful when publishing reports.
“The ministry hopes immediate action will be taken by the relevant authorities against fake news like this to avoid misunderstanding among the public.
“The public is also advised to first check the authenticity of news before believing or sharing it,” he said. – The Vibes, February 25, 2021
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