Good response shows people’s confidence in AZ

PETALING JAYA: The latest round of AstraZeneca registration which saw almost one million slots being taken up in an hour shows the people’s increasing confidence in the vaccine.

The Prime Minister’s Special Adviser on Public Health Tan Sri Dr Jemilah Mahmood said the vaccines had been taken up in record time due to the success of its first phase opt-in rollout.

“I was informed that the registration was going fast and at its peak, hundreds of thousands were logging in per minute. It was an overwhelming response which shows the rakyat is keen to be vaccinated as soon as possible.

“People have gained confidence, that is why they are registering for the vaccine, ” she said when contacted yesterday.

Dr Jemilah added that the rising Covid-19 cases every day also fuelled the demand for the vaccine.

“The Pfizer and Sinovac vaccine shipments will be stepped up and administered as well, so there will be plenty more (vaccines) rolling out next month, ” she said.

Some of those who tried their luck at www.vaksincovid.gov.my believed all the slots were taken up in that short span of time while others raised doubts on whether the vaccines were really snapped up due to the multiple glitches occurring during the registration process.

Singer Joe Zainul, 49, was among those who believed that all the one million slots offered for registration yesterday were snapped up as many desperately wanted the vaccine.

“A lot of people are aware of how important it is to get vaccinated, so I wouldn’t be surprised if they all were taken up in an hour or so, ” he said.

Joe was among those left frustrated with the system when nothing seemed to happen after he tried to select slots in either Kuala Lumpur or Selangor.

When he finally got through, he found out all slots were full, leading him to believe that there were no more slots available this round.

“I tried every single available date and all came back full, so yes, I think all of them were snapped up, ” he said.

However, he is not about to give up his quest to get a chance at being vaccinated and will try again if the opt-in programme is offered.

“But please, rectify all these hiccups.

“Pity those who are waiting to get vaccinated. It’s so frustrating, ” he said.

Public relations professional V. Venoshia, however, said it was unlikely that all the slots were snapped up in less than an hour.

“It’s impossible for all one million slots to be taken up in around 40 minutes. But if it was, the entire system was bad, ” the 33-year-old said.

Despite being frustrated and fatigued by the process, Venoshia said she would try again when the opportunity presents itself because it was necessary to get vaccinated against the potentially fatal Covid-19.