Emergency helped boost Covid-19 vaccination rate and hasten transition to endemic phase, says PAS lawmaker

KUALA LUMPUR: The declaration of Emergency allowed the national vaccination programme to run smoothly and the country to transition towards the endemic phase quickly, says Datuk Che Abdullah Mat Nawi.

The Tumpat MP cited several developments during the Emergency, including the intergration of private and public healthcare facilities and the protection of public health.

"That is why we can see how the country was still protected although Covid-19 cases continued to rise previously," he said while debating the motion to annul the Emergency Ordinances in Parliament on Monday (Oct 25).

He added that Malaysia had at one stage recorded more than 500,000 Covid-19 vaccine doses administered daily, among the highest in the world.

"The impact is that with a high vaccination rate, Malaysia has started to ease restrictions including the approval for interstate travel after achieving a 90% vaccination rate among its adult population," said the PAS lawmaker.

The success of the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme also showed a clear indication of the proactive measures taken by the King in declaring the Emergency, said Che Abdullah.

"It is however unfortunate that some quarters chose to focus on certain issues when the government was busy fighting the pandemic.

"They only want to incite (the people) using the slogan 'failed government'," he added.

"I am confident that all the criticism and comments aimed at the government, claiming that the Emergency has failed, show that they do not understand the real situation in the country," he said, adding that such complaints were used only for political mileage.

He also defended the Emergency declaration by saying that the increase of Covid-19 cases was due to the highly infectious Delta variant, causing a third wave in the country.

"The cases previously continued to spike until 20,000 daily with high mortality rate.

"We do not deny all the facts in front of us. It is true that the cases were still high during the Emergency period but this does not indicate the failure of the Emergency.

"There were other functions of the Emergency Ordinances that helped contribute to our success today, and achievements during the endemic phase soon," said the former agriculture and food industries deputy minister.