GEORGE TOWN – A group of businessmen here has suggested a formula to clear the Covid-19 jab logjam that entails allowing the private sector to procure millions of vaccines directly from manufacturers approved by Putrajaya.
Their representative, Benson Ooi, told The Vibes that the plan calls on the private sector to take the lead by investing in vaccines to complement the Health Ministry’s national immunisation programme.
I think it has reached a stage where we have become jittery. Our healthcare system is bogged down with fighting Covid-19, and our economy is nosediving. I know this is a cliche, but desperate times call for desperate measures. We need results, as it is about saving lives.”
He pointed out that based on the group’s calculations, the majority of Penang’s population of 1.7 million can be inoculated within a week if all resources in the private sector are deployed around the clock.
The group’s suggestion, to be outlined in a public briefing soon, urges the private sector to purchase all vaccines approved by the Special Committee on Covid-19 Vaccine Supply at a premium price.
“We do not want this initiative to be politicised or racialised, or done along religious lines,” said Ooi.
Hence, the call for the private sector to be allowed to procure vaccines at a premium price from producers approved by the government.
Ooi said the group plans to meet all private sector stakeholders in Penang – including the Malaysian Employers’ Federation, Malayan Trades Union Congress, Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers, as well as the business and investment communities – to jump-start the initiative.
We are proposing that all employers work with us to purchase the vaccines. For employees who can afford it, they will buy it for themselves, and for those who cannot, they can pay via instalments or seek government subsidies.”
To hasten immunisation against Covid-19 so that it takes weeks rather than months, he said, the government must allow the private sector to buy all seven vaccines currently available in the market so that supply outstrips demand.
Civil servants and those classified as the B40 group can opt for the national immunisation drive, which will ease up if the private sector concurrently holds its own campaign to inoculate employees, added Ooi. – The Vibes, May 29, 2021
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