KOTA KINABALU – The slow pace of vaccination against Covid-19 in Sabah has left several political leaders and NGOs fuming.
Sabah PKR Youth information chief Razeef Rakimin said there has been only an increase of 6.53% in registration numbers between the end of March until now. This is the lowest registration rate in the country.
Also, only 4.13% of the 515,124 people registered have been vaccinated thus far, he added.
“The numbers are extremely low compared with other states in Malaysia,” he said.
“I would like to question the weakness in the state government in getting more to register and get jabbed under the national vaccination programme.
“After March 31, the registration rate for Sabah was 11.03%, and just two months later, it has only hit 17%.
“This is really disappointing. It’s as if the state government does not care about getting the people in the state vaccinated,” said Razeef.
He added that he is also disappointed that the voluntary registration for the AstraZeneca jab is not open to Sabah folk.
Only those in Johor, Selangor, Penang and Sarawak can opt in for the AstraZeneca vaccine.
“As usual, Sabah continues to be sidelined in any initiative, as though Putrajaya does not care about Sabahans,” he said.
A study by a group called Women in Sabah’s Expression concerning the slow vaccination progress found that some who have registered for the inoculation have yet to receive their appointment dates.
It is understood that there are some who registered in February but have not been called in.
The group, managed by former state assistant minister Jennifer Lasimbang, also noted that some have yet to register via the MySejahtera app, while others remain unconvinced about the vaccines’ safety and reliability. – The Vibes, May 28, 2021
