Fake vaccination certs: ProtectHealth vows action on doctors, healthcare NGOs found to have breached rules

PETALING JAYA: Private medical practitioners (PMPs) and healthcare non-governmental organisations (NGOs) will face action if any of them is found to have violated rules following reports of the sale of fake Covid-19 vaccination certificates, says ProtectHealth Corporation Sdn Bhd.

“In ensuring that PMPs under ProtectHealth perform quality services and adhere to the standard operating procedure set by the Health Ministry and us, regular random audits are conducted on the PMPs and healthcare NGOs.

“Should there be any non-compliance, ProtectHealth will take the necessary action and suspend the PMP and healthcare NGO concerned from conducting vaccinations under the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme (PICK)," ProtectHealth said in a statement on Wednesday (Jan 19).

It also promised that its medical audit team will conduct on-demand investigations if it receives any complaint or whenever any data anomaly is suspected from its monitoring.

ProtectHealth is the implementer of private medical practitioner and healthcare NGO participation in PICK.

It also urged the public to act as whistleblowers to report any suspicious or illegal activities to the authorities.

“This initiative can act as an effective deterrent to prevent fraud,” it added.

It assured the public that all PMPs under ProtectHealth are registered with the Malaysian Medical Council (MMC) and their healthcare facilities are licensed under the Health Ministry.

It said this is a prerequisite to participate in PICK and ensure that the PMPs are regulated by the relevant Act.

“PMPs and healthcare NGOs are also required to attend mandatory training before being allowed to administer vaccinations and they receive regular guideline updates from us and the ministry,” it said.

ProtectHealth added that the vaccines are also only given to the PMPs and healthcare NGOs via a controlled mechanism by the Vaccine Storage Centre (PSV) as per appointment counts issued by MySejahtera or the prepared line listing.

“The vaccine administration records the vaccine serial number and both the identification of the vaccine recepient and vaccinator.

“ProtectHealth will not tolerate any misconduct by any of the PMPs and Healthcare NGOs under our supervision, and will provide our fullest cooperation to the authorities should there be any related incident,” it said.

On Jan 17, a private clinic in Selangor offering fake vaccination certificates for RM500 each was raided by the police.

Prior to that, in Kota Baru, four people including the operator of a private clinic were arrested by the police for falsifying Covid-19 vaccination cards.

Such cases first came to light in Kuala Terengganu recently, where a doctor from a private medical clinic was arrested for suspicion of issuing fake Covid-19 vaccination certificates.

He was nabbed following complaints from the public. It is understood that those who wanted to obtain the fake certificate needed to pay between RM400 and RM600.