COORDINATING planned vaccinations by private general practitioners (GPs) is an extensive programme and would need additional expertise, resources and manpower.
In light of this, Protect Health Corporation (ProtectHealth) has been working closely with the Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) on the private GPs involvement in the National COVID-19 Immunisation Programme’s (NIP) Phase 2 and 3.
So far, 2,500 GPs have registered to participate as vaccinators in the NIP through an online platform created by ProtectHealth. Most of the participating GPs have already undergone the required training to conduct the vaccination programme.
“We are now ironing out some of the programme’s logistical issues with ProtectHealth and hope all participating GPs will be able to begin administering the vaccinations at their clinics by early May,” said MMA president Prof. Datuk Dr Subramaniam Muniandy.
Under the programme, the GPs are required to collect the vaccine vials from the Health Ministry’s storage facilities, store the vaccines at their clinics and administer the jabs all according to a schedule.
MMA is also proposing that the vials instead be delivered to the participating clinics to prevent long queues and crowding at the collection centres.
It was also proposed that a dedicated hotline be set up for GPs to consult the government’s klinik kesihatan (KK) or the emergency departments (ED) of the hospitals in the event of any Adverse Event Following Immunisation (AEFI).
“All participating GPs will also be required to purchase medical grade cold boxes, refrigerators and electronic temperature data loggers at their own cost to participate in the programme. The cold box costs around RM300 to RM450 each, the temperature logger at around RM130 to RM400 each and the fridge at RM1,000 to 4,000 or higher,” Subramaniam explained.
ProtectHealth’s platform will also be linked to the MySejahtera app which will enable all records to be up to date much quicker while cutting down on any repetitive, administrative tasks.
MMA is also proposing process automation for consent by patients instead of manually generated printed formats which will take up a lot of time and resources. Exceptions can be given to senior citizens or those not well versed with online submission.
At the rate of 90 vaccinations over three days per week, each GP will be able to conduct 360 vaccinations per month. MMA hopes to rope in more GPs to be enrolling for the servicec once the programme is finalised and we target a participation of 5,000 GPs to conduct 150,000 vaccinations per day based on 30 vaccinations per day at each clinic nationwide. – April 29, 2021
