KUALA LUMPUR – Dr Lee Boon Chye has slammed Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin over the National Recovery Plan, saying it lacks focus on accelerating the Covid-19 vaccination drive.
In a statement today, the Gopeng MP and former deputy health minister said containing the pandemic depends on three primary factors, namely public health measures; detecting and isolating close contacts and patients; and movement controls and vaccination.
“The tightening of the MCO (movement control order), even though effective, has a major effect on the economy, and MCO 3.0 has caused economic losses of RM1 billion daily.
“However, the RM1 billion in daily losses is not borne equally by all layers of society. In fact, there are industries that continue to operate and rake in billions in profits throughout the MCO, while some people are still struggling.”
The four-phase National Recovery Plan, announced by the prime minister yesterday, will be based on three criteria: daily infections, intensive care unit bed capacity, and the percentage of the population vaccinated.
“However, the sole determining factor (among these) is vaccination,” said Dr Lee.
“This is because when the percentage of people who have been vaccinated increases, new case numbers will decrease, alongside patients in need of ICU treatment.
“Therefore, the recovery plan fails to instil confidence in the people that the government is capable of controlling the pandemic. In fact, the plan shows confusion, and fails to focus on the critical issue of vaccination.”
The main recovery strategy should be to increase the number of vaccine doses administered daily to between 300,000 and 500,000 soon, he said.
Among Dr Lee’s other suggestions are:
- Procuring enough vaccines by end-July;
- Including general practitioners and clinics in the vaccination drive;
- Easing the registration process, such as allowing automatic registration and walk-ins; and,
- Ensuring that all those who have registered for the jab – 13.8 million so far, or 42% of Malaysia’s population – receive it by end-July, allowing movement controls to be loosened by August.
Muhyiddin has given an assurance that Parliament will reconvene in September or October under Phase 3 of the National Recovery Plan, so long as the standard operating procedures are strictly heeded. – The Vibes, June 16, 2021
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