Database on the vaccinated needed

PETALING JAYA: With Malaysia’s mass vaccination programme due to start at the end of this month, health experts have called for a proper database of the people who will be vaccinated to avoid vaccine wastage and to monitor side effects.

Before the start of the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme, Association of Private Hospitals Malaysia president Datuk Dr Kuljit Singh said it was important that the government identifies those who need to be vaccinated so that people did not miss their vaccination slot.

“We want everyone to get vaccinated, but in the process there should not be an instance where names are listed twice or a situation where someone who does not want to get vaccinated is there. This might lead to wastage, ” he said.

Dr Kuljit said for each vaccine wasted, it would deny someone else who wanted it, adding that the government had bought the vaccines with taxpayers’ money, so it should not be wasted.

So far, he noted that private and public healthcare workers would be vaccinated simultaneously.

However, on the vaccination of the general public, he said there were no details yet but the government had told them the private and public sector would work together to vaccinate the public.

“The private sector and on behalf of general practitioners, we are committed to help the government because our main aim is to bring down Covid-19 cases and we want life to return to normal, ” he said, adding that if the government lacked the manpower, they were ever ready to lend a hand.

On Thursday, Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin announced that Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Khairy Jamaluddin had been appointed as the coordinating minister for the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme. Khairy will be leading a special task force that will manage the implementation of the programme, especially on logistics and coordination with states and agencies.

The vaccination programme is targeting 26.5 million Malaysians.

It was announced that the first phase of the immunisation programme involving 500,000 medical and non-medical frontliners, is expected to be completed by April.

The second phase from April to August would involve 9.4 million people from high-risk groups such as those aged 60 and above, with heart ailments, high blood pressure, obese or diabetic and the disabled.

The third phase would involve the rest of the population with vaccinations to be carried out from May to February next year.

Malaysian Public Health Physicians Association president Datuk Dr Zainal Ariffin Omar said a database of those who had been vaccinated and systematic close monitoring of side effects of the vaccine also needed to be looked into.

“Due to the large numbers (of people vaccinated), we have to follow the side effects and we also need to have transparency (to know who has been vaccinated), ” he said.

Malaysian Pharmacists Society president Amrahi Buang said they had offered their services to the government because they wanted to see the vaccination programme be a success.

“In a letter from the Health Ministry, they said we will be involved from August onwards. We have also submitted the names of 20 overseas trained pharmacists to help out, ” he said, adding that 300 more pharmacists had expressed their interest in wanting to be trained for this purpose.