Get vaccinated and reclaim your life

As Malaysia moves slowly but surely to protect its citizens from Covid-19, more needs to be done on all fronts to combat the pandemic.

“DID you get your jab”?

That is the most common question I get these days. The other is of course, “Have you got a vaccination date?”

I ask these questions too to my family, friends, and colleagues because there is only one objective left for us to do – get vaccinated, achieve herd immunity, and put an end to this mother of all pandemics.

This recent lockdown has caused me to modify my views.

If at the start of our National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme I was ambivalent towards those Malaysians who choose not to register and get vaccinated, I have now changed my opinion.

I believe the government should not only crack down on anti-vaxxers spreading conspiracy theories and those who share them on social media, we should also initiate legislature to make it compulsory for all Malaysians to receive a vaccine. Just like what Indonesia did.

True, some may argue that such a move would be akin to the country veering towards a Gestapo-like state.

But we are already in the midst of an Emergency, with Parliament

suspended until August, and a further Emergency enactment to give the authorities power to act against those who refuse the vaccine, should not be discounted.

As it stands, registration for the Covid-19 jab is still disappointing despite the millions spent to educate the public on the need for vaccination.

The flip-flop decisions obviously do not help.

From the supposed alcoholic beverages ban to the confusion over which ministry issues permits for businesses to operate during

the lockdown, these series of missteps have created a trust deficit among the public towards the government.

Still, let’s not delve into these failures by our policymakers because we seem to be getting our act together.

Recent days have seen positive cases hovering between 5, 000 and 6, 000 daily and the country’s R naught infectivity rate has also dropped to below 1.0.

These indicators vindicate the government’s decision to impose a nationwide two-week lockdown.

The restrictions are due to end on Monday, but logically, there should be a further two-week extension.

I suspect that the government may relax some restrictions on key economic sectors, but we need to bite the bullet and brace ourselves a little while longer because the country is on the verge of turning the corner in our battle against Covid-19.

In tandem with the drop in positive cases, daily vaccination rates have surpassed 150, 000 doses.

This is due to increase to 200, 000 doses a day.

The Sultan of Selangor’s admonishment of the “disproportionate and unfair amount” of vaccines allocated to the state, will see a ramping up of supply soon.

This is only logical as Selangor is the nation’s biggest gross domestic product contributor and should be given priority.

And lest we forget, Selangor is still the worst affected state in terms of Covid-19-positive numbers with an average daily rate of 2, 000 plus cases.

The Covid-19 Immunisation Task Force (CITF) will now work with the private sector in the coming days to open more mega PPVs (vaccination centres) nationwide and target critical economic sectors like manufacturing, logistics, transportation, energy, and utility.

This Phase Four of the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme is of extreme importance because the country needs these sectors to be operational during the current lockdown.

As we gradually move out of the movement control order, the government needs to ensure that the mistakes of the past are not repeated.

Mass testing, just like what Selangor is doing, needs to be continued and increased in states like Kelantan, Johor, Kuala Lumpur and Negri Sembilan.

Delays to shipments of the AstraZeneca vaccine are expected, but this should not be a reason to curb our vaccination momentum.

Other countries have successfully combined doses of different vaccines.

And pending our medical authorities approval, we could easily combine a first dose of AstraZeneca with a second dose of Pfizer.

Covid-19 has also exposed our slow pace of digitalisation.

The government recently announced that by 2022, all payments by the government will be made digitally.

This needs to happen.

It was also previously announced that there would be laptops for kids who are in need.

This is still forthcoming. Why?

Housing for foreign workers needs a total revamp to curb emerging Covid-19 clusters.

Once and for all, we need to deal with the undocumented workers in our country that could easily be anywhere between two and three million, if not more.

As proven in countries that have vaccinated more than 50% of their population, there is an enormous pent-up demand in terms of economic activity and consumer demand.

There is a huge incentive for Malaysia to push forward with our mass immunisation plans.

If it means that we have to make vaccination compulsory, then so be it.

The rakyat look forward to seeing tangible plans in place, made transparent and public on how we deal with other Covid-19 outbreaks in the months and years ahead.

Enough of the days of being reactive to the pandemic. Let’s be proactive in combating this plague.

We must now look forward, look ahead, and for goodness’ sake, plan better.