No media war: Selangor MB to meet Khairy over AZ appointment issue

PETALING JAYA: After Selangor's health platform Selangkah was implicated as a possible cause of technical problems in the AstraZeneca online appointment booking system, Mentri Besar Amirudin Shari (pic) is set to meet with Khairy Jamaluddin to clear the air over the matter.

"I've just communicated with Khairy about the (May 28) statement made by the Covid-19 Immunisation Task Force (CITF) and Selangkah.

Amirudin said he had received an invitation to meet Khairy on Sunday (May 30), to coordinate better cooperation in future.

"Matters can be discussed, so why should it be made into a 'war' in the media," he tweeted on Saturday (May 29).

On Friday night, Selangkah refuted claims that it made block bookings in large quantities for AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccinations.

Its chief executive officer Tengku Iesta Tengku Alaudin said Selangkah would not hesitate to initiate legal action against anyone who spread false allegations.

CITF had claimed that Selangkah had acknowledged that it had made reservations for AstraZeneca vaccinations without first checking if individuals in the ImuniSEL database had agreed to it, which resulted in the change of appointments for those who had been given earlier dates at vaccination centres.

It said preliminary investigations into complaints about the vaccination appointment slots show that a large number came from the same IP addresses, including the Selangor government's Selangkah platform.

Khairy, who is also the coordinating minister for the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme, had on Thursday (May 27) announced that the next batch of AstraZeneca vaccines would no longer be offered as an opt-in but included as a mainstream vaccine.

This was due to overwhelming public response, which showed there was no more hesitation towards the AstraZeneca vaccine.