THE Penang Manufacturing Industry Advisory Council (PMIAC) is perturbed as to how despite the state’s effort to ramp up the capacity of vaccination centres (PPV), the inconsistent supply of vaccines in Penang has thrown a spanner in the works.
As of Aug 25, only 38.9% of Penang’s total population is fully inoculated, lower than Malaysia’s 42.4% and way below other states like Sarawak, Klang Valley (Kuala Lumpur and Selangor) and Negeri Sembilan.
“Penang is now at a critical juncture to boost vaccine supply for the outbreak to abate,” PMIAC pointed out. “The council would like to urge the Federal Government to allocate more vaccines to the state as it has the capacity to elevate vaccination with the increase in vaccine supplies.”
On a related development, PMIAC said the current enforcement on standard operating procedures (SOPs) has undeniably created uncertainties and challenges for companies to make proper planning in both current operations and directions going forward.
“This includes the workforce arrangements to maintain production and ensure timely fulfilment of clients’ orders, among others,” noted the council.
“The uncoordinated enforcement criteria adopted by the respective authorities resulted in an obscure environment for the industry players. The council would like to call for consistent, transparent and streamlined SOPs that are clearly communicated across for better adoption and enforcement.”
Another issue highlighted by PMIAC is related to concerns over affordability and sustainability of regular COVID-19 testing in the workplace.
“While the council believes periodic COVID-19 testing of workforce and isolating workers confirmed positive is a good practice, a blanket mandatory obligation for all workforce at the manufacturing site to undergo such test presents challenges and shortcomings,” revealed PMIAC.
“These include the supply of RTK Antigen test kits to meet both industry and community demand and the costs incurred at the current mandated frequency will be burdensome to the industry, especially the small and medium enterprises (SMEs).”
In this regard, the council put forth the following suggestion:
- To re-evaluate the mandatory requirement for the test frequency in the industry.
- To pool procure RTK Antigen Test kits for the manufacturing sector to ensure sufficient supply with SOCSO (Social Security Organisation) to subsidise the test kits.
- To consider exemption or sample testing for fully vaccinated workforce and manufacturing sites with an 80% vaccinated workforce.
Last but not least, the council also urges companies to encourage employees and their family members to register for vaccination.
“Achieving herd immunity as soon as possible is the only solution for safety and health without taking away life normalcy,” it added. – Aug 27, 2021
