PETALING JAYA: Employers have been urged to support and cooperate with the relevant agencies to ensure the success of the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme (NIP), says the Malaysian Employers Federation (MEF).
Its president Datuk Dr Syed Hussain Syed Husman gave the thumbs-up to the Government for its comprehensive policies and plans to reduce the number of infections with a view towards achieving zero cases in the near future.
"The Government has clearly laid out its roadmap in the NIP Handbook. As employers, we eagerly anticipate its swift and orderly implementation with the hope that our country and our economy could finally be on the road to full recovery, ” Syed Hussain said in a statement on Wednesday (Feb 17).
Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin (pic) announced on Tuesday (Feb 16) that the first batch of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine will arrive in the country on Feb 21 and the rollout of the immunisation programme will begin on Feb 26.
Almost 27 million or over 80% of Malaysia’s population are expected to be vaccinated against Covid-19 by the first quarter of 2022.
However, the MEF president raised concerns over some of the challenges that employers may face during the deployment stage of the programme.
“The main challenge of employers would be to release their staff and to ensure that every effort is made to vaccinate employees, including foreign workers, ” he said.
“Covid-19 spreads indiscriminately, and therefore it is important to ensure that employees and foreign workers are treated equally, and that no one is left out.”
“However, it must be pointed out that winning the fight against Covid-19 is not about the vaccine alone. Employees, employers and the people have critical roles to play to ensure that standard operating procedures such as using face masks and practising physical distancing are adhered to strictly," he added.
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