Declining Covid-19 vaccination rate worrying, says Anwar

KUALA LUMPUR: The declining Covid-19 vaccination rate is a concern, says Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

The Opposition leader said that the number had consistently hovered at 500,000 jabs being administered per day in August, before dipping to less than 300,000 since Sept 10.

"It was only 227,000 two days ago," he said.

"If we keep up with such rates, we will not achieve herd immunity and we want to know what is causing this decline," he said during his speech on the Royal Address in Parliament on Tuesday (Sept 14).

As of Sept 14, Malaysia administered 227,147 doses of Covid-19 vaccine, a drop from 227,476 in the previous day.

A total of 17.48 million of the population in Malaysia has been fully inoculated.

Anwar said however that the vaccination rates in Sabah and Kelantan are too low, as it stands at 45.1% and 36% respectively of their total population.

"There is something wrong with the system. Something is wrong with planning. Forget about sending oxygen tanks across Malaysia. This is a central problem that has to be resolved," he added.

Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad (PH-Setiawangsa) interjected, saying that poverty rates in Klang Valley at present are worrying.

He asked if Anwar agreed that the government had failed in addressing the Covid-19 pandemic.

In response, Anwar said poverty is not only increasing in urban areas in Klang Valley such as Kerinchi, Lembah Pantai, and Setiawangsa, but small villages living in other states are also seeing a rise in poverty.

"Urban poverty has reached a worrying stage.

"I hope the Prime Minister and the relevant ministers will take note of these issues," added Anwar.

Anwar also said that as long as the issue of poverty and income inequality isn't solved in Malaysia, the Covid-19 situation will not improve.

"We have many positive Covid-19 cases, many have died, and the worst are the brought-in-dead (BID) cases.

"As long as poverty isn't addressed, and there are serious gaps between the rich and poor, then we will not solve any problems, even Covid-19," he said.

Anwar cited a study by infectious disease expert Prof Dr Adeeba Kamarulzaman that touched on poverty and social exclusion.

He said weak social institutions and the poor management of the pandemic caused public trust towards the government to erode.

"Trust in the government erodes due to double standards among politicians" he added.