Orang Asli ready for endemic phase of Covid-19

MERSING (Bernama): The Orang Asli community in the district is ready to face the endemic phase of Covid-19 but wants the government to continue providing information on a regular basis, including through online platforms such as Google Meet.

Kampung Punan tok batin or village head Acai Kadir said the government should always ensure that the community is provided with much-needed information, especially on life in the endemic phase.

"The community welcomes the vaccination programme, and explanation from the Health Ministry and the Department of Orang Asli Development (Jakoa) is important.

"The world is sophisticated now, there is the Internet and so on. My hope is that Jakoa and the ministry will provide detailed information from time to time, so that we will not be left behind," he told Bernama when met at the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme for Mersing district at SK Punan here recently.

He said the information provided by the agencies involved must be in line with current developments because the majority of Orang Asli always follow the latest news.

"If possible, we want more online discussions rather than offline. Since the pandemic hit, meetings or discussions are often disrupted. Maybe we can do it via Google Meet as Covid-19 cases in the country are still high," he said.

To keep false information from irresponsible parties spreading among the community, Acai said specific WhatsApp channels are used, as well as outreach programmes.

Meanwhile, Mersing Jakoa officer Nor Faizzi Sulaiman said as of Sept 20, a total of 714 Orang Asli in the district had received the first dose of the vaccine while 295 people had been fully vaccinated.

"There are 1,043 people eligible for vaccination," he said, adding that vaccination of those in the community would continue as part of the government's efforts to prepare for the endemic phase next month.

“Covid-19 vaccine acceptance among the villagers is getting better lately. The percentage of those who have agreed to be vaccinated is also increasing. Previously, they rejected the vaccine because of misinformation.

"With the help of volunteers, Jakoa officers went house to house and managed to increase the degree of vaccine acceptance, which shows the effectiveness of outreach programmes," he said.

A total of 336 Orang Asli from the Jakun tribe in Kampung Orang Asli Tewowoh, Kampung Punan and Kampung Peta received their vaccine shots during the two-day programme which saw the involvement of 95 staff members from the Mersing health office, district office, Jakoa and Land Office as well as NGOs. – Bernama