KUALA LUMPUR – Communications and Multimedia Minister Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah has expressed his intention to take the Covid-19 vaccine at the same time as media practitioners.
The vaccination date for this group has yet to be fixed by the Covid-19 Vaccine Supply Access Guarantee Special Committee.
“I don’t know (the date), it’s really up to the schedule. By right, I should have been vaccinated by now but I requested for Sinovac and to take it together with journalists,” he said after attending the Jelajah Malaysia Prihatin programme at the Urban Transformation Centre (UTC) in Sentul today.
Saifuddin said he had appealed to National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme Coordinating Minister Khairy Jamaluddin and Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Adham Baba to prioritise media practitioners as vaccine recipients.
“They (Khairy and Adham) said they will try to give priority to journalists but not together with frontliners. They understand that journalists, cameramen and photographers are always on the ground meeting people,” he said.
Meanwhile, he said the encouragement for the public to watch movies and support the local film industry is not merely for entertainment but also to help ensure the survival of industry players.
Saifuddin said he know some quarters have criticised the move for the industry to reopen, but argued there are some 30,000 individuals who rely solely on income from filming activities, 5,000 employees in cinemas and 10,000 individuals in the music industry.
“No filming means no jobs. So, I hope the people understand (why they need) to support local films. This is not about entertainment but this is their source of income and if the activities are halted, they will suffer,” he said.
On the method of selecting recipients for device assistance through the MyBaikHati campaign, Saifuddin said the ministry will use data on eligible B40 groups from the Inland Revenue Board.
The campaign, which is part of the Strategic Plan to Empower the People and the Economy (Pemerkasa), uses the concept of crowdsourcing, which will involve collecting donations of used devices from businesses and individuals through selected branches of six telecommunications companies. – Bernama, March 21, 2021
