Covid-19: S'wak govt should work with relevant Federal bodies to solve MySejahtera issues

SIBU: The Sarawak government should work with the relevant Federal minister and government bodies to help those who have yet to receive a vaccination certificate despite receiving two doses, says Bukit Assek assemblywoman Irene Chang.

She said that the state government should work with the Covid-19 Immunisation Task Force (CITF) and the MySejahtera administrators to ensure that people have their latest vaccination status updated on the app.

She said in a statement on Saturday (July 24) that she had received many complaints from those who have received both first and second doses of their vaccine and have not been issued with the digital certificate.

Chang said there were also those who have received their digital certificate in their MySejahtera, but their certificate does not show the vaccine details of their manufacturer and their batch number.

She said that this is important as people would need proof of vaccination with complete details of the type of vaccine before they are allowed to travel freely and to participate in economic and social activities, especially in international events.

Chang added this would be especially important for students who need to travel to other states or countries for further studies and for those people who need to travel abroad for their work.

"The digital certificate would be their 'Covid-19 vaccination passport' which is already being considered to be introduced by the Federal Government as a requirement for interstate, inter-district and international travel,"she asked.

Chang said that those who have still not received the digital certificate in their MySejahtera despite receiving two doses might encounter a host of problems.

She added that these people may be wrongly discriminated against and prevented from patronising certain premises, as well as to trade in these premises, she said.

As an example, she said operators in the Taman Selera Harmoni Food Court here had taken an extra precautionary measure of only allowing customers who have at least one dose of a vaccine.

"The same can be said for the State Disaster Management Committee's latest standard operating procedures that require workers at eateries to be vaccinated with at least one dose before their eateries are allowed to operate,” she said.