THE National COVID-19 Immunisation Programme coordinating minister Khairy Jamaluddin’s recent announcement that media personnel registered under the programme will receive their first dose this week comes as good news for the media industry in Malaysia.
It was previously announced that more than 5,000 media practitioners would receive their COVID-19 vaccination appointment dates in June.
Like other frontline personnel who have been, up to this day, fighting together to curb the spread of the pandemic, the media, too, has played a crucial role.
They risk themselves daily by going out into the field to report news, rain or shine, including from high risk areas and hotspots such as hospitals, areas placed under the enhanced movement control order (EMCO) and COVID-19 quarantine to convey accurate information to the public.
It is high time for the Government to recognise them as frontliners as well. Their jobs are no less risky than that of a healthcare worker, and it takes true grit and courage to go into the field each day with nothing more than a face mask to cover even the most challenging news.
It had been previously reported that several media practitioners were tested positive for COVID-19 after having gone down to the ground, including a reporter who had covered the Sabah state elections last year.
There were many others who were infected when they go out for assignments and meet people, and the fear of infecting their ageing parents, family members, friends and people that they have been in contact with is a constant concern.
But as Tokoh Wartawan Negara (National Journalism Laureate) Tan Sri Johan Jaaffar said in his open letter to Khairy, published in one of the English dailies, “It is their moral obligation to bring news to the public without fear and favour. And in a pandemic like this one, at a high personal cost.”
And what a high personal cost that is, given the fact that the COVID-19 pandemic has infected 173 million people worldwide and has so far killed 3.73 million people.
In Malaysia, it has infected more than half a million people and contributed to 3,460 deaths as at June 7. While the number of daily cases had seen a dip in the last few days, the situation is still critical.
Having said that, the vaccination exercise for all media personnel must be carried out as soon as possible. They, too, deserve to be protected in order for them to go about doing their jobs safely. – June 9, 2021
