WITH the Health Ministry (MOH) roping in private clinics to assist in the National COVID-19 Vaccination Programme (PICK), several quarters have lauded the move as it would hasten the mass inoculation effort.
However, a seasoned public health doctor urged the MOH to scrutinise its mechanics before embarking on it for the sake of everyone’s wellbeing.
“The effort is laudable but MOH must consider several issues first. For example, we need to look into its affordability and whether the system designed is workable or otherwise,” SP Care founder Dr Sathia Prakash Nadarajan told FocusM.
Elaborating, Prakash said that a lot of the issues may come from the standard operating procedure (SOP) designed by the MOH for private clinics to vaccinate the public.
“For starters, the Government said that private clinics are to collect the vaccines from designated areas on Tuesdays only. You see, there are approximately 3,000 to 4,000 clinics participating in this programme.
“So, can you imagine the queue and congestion it is going create at the designated areas? How is the MOH going to handle the sheer numbers?” he asked.
Another issue, Prakash added, was the tedious process the staffs at private clinics have to endure in contacting applicants and fix appointments for them.
“It’s because we will be dealing with people who have not come to our any of our clinics before, So, our staff have to check their background, medical history and do other clerical work, which is time consuming.
“And once they arrive, applicants will be required to undergo certain tests and sign indemnity clause before being administered the vaccines,” he opined.
Tedious, time consuming and risky
Another problem, Prakash stated, was the duration a vaccinated individual has to stay in the clinic to check for any adverse effects.
The health expert said that following immunisation, the individual has to stay in the clinic between 15 to 30 minutes, and if anything happens to the person, the doctors are required to give them free treatment.
“And we are only allowed to vaccinate on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, with a requirement to vaccinate 30 people a day. Plus, vaccination is only allowed from 12pm to 6pm.
“But if one vaccinated person stays in the clinic for 30 minutes following immunisation, do you think we can complete 30 vaccinations in a day?
“And even if one person suffers an allergic reaction, we must attend to them and other applicants may need to wait longer for their turn.
“With that, how are we to cater to other sick patients while doing inoculation?” he enquired.
On that note, Prakash opined that not every private healthcare clinics would be able to meet MOH’s requirement, as many of them operate in small premises with little facilities.
He added that clinics may need to find a separate premise to conduct the inoculation programme, as even one applicant with COVID-19 symptoms may jeopardise every other patient there.
“And to get a separate premise, the clinic operator may need to hire additional staffers to man the place,” Sathia stressed.
Acknowledging it was a complicated matter, Sathia offered a solution, where the clinics at the locality inoculate those within the community itself.
“It’s workable as we would know the patients’ history, which will lessen the time used to check on their medical history.
“In general, the MOH must think this through again. Bear in mind, for each vaccination, the clinic only gets RM14 but the cost of preparing for the vaccination programme, which includes getting the cooling bags, refrigerator and personal protection equipment (PPE) is more expensive than that.
“But I’m ready for this. As far as I’m concerned, this is my way of serving the community I live with but MOH must improve on the mechanics,” he stressed. – April 20, 2021.
