GIVEN that the COVID-19 vaccine has suddenly become a precious commodity overnight, many unscrupulous parties would surely want to capitalise on the opportunity to become an overnight sensation by offering to be “donors”.
But thankfully, the bogus vaccine donation issue as exposed by Science, Technology, and Innovation Minister Khairy Jamaluddin yesterday has not deterred corporates and organisations with genuine intention to come forward to do their bit for the vulnerable groups.
In the wake of Khairy’s claim that the two million free Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine intended for Penang was a scam, the PETRA Group has had a fruitful virtual interaction with the minister in-charge of of COVID-19 immunisation coordination on its offer to donate 200,000 doses of the Sinovac vaccine “with no strings attached”.
“It is unfortunate that we have been associated with ‘scam’ companies by certain members of the media,” clarified the PETRA Group’s chief government liaison officer Datuk Dr William Stevenson. “We are dealing with these slanders separately through our lawyers.”
Following the emergence of dubious offers to provide vaccines, Stevenson said the PETRA Group understand Khairy’s apprehension and the need to conduct due diligence.
“In sourcing for vaccines, we too have conducted the necessary checks on the manufacturer and distributor to ensure the vaccines are genuine,” he pointed out. “We believe the distributor we are in touch with are genuine.”
For the record, the PETRA Group had written to the Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Adham Baba on March 8, Khairy on March 31 and the National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency (NPRA) on May 5 to express its desire to contribute to the vaccine procurement as part of national service.
As it can become inevitably frustrating for bureaucracy to stand in the way on the part of genuine donors, perhaps the health authorities should issue specific guidelines/procedures on how corporations can extend their charitable deeds effectively (ie which department or individual in-charge to reach out to).
Likewise, it should also beef up the approval process once it can be confirmed that the donor is genuine or the said vaccine type is safe for inoculation.
This would certainly encourage more corporations or foundations to come forward to help the Government’s cause in its National Immunisation Programme (NIP) initiative, thus expediting the likelihood for Malaysia to break the dreadful COVID-19 chain and eventually enables the country to achieve herd mentality in the shortest time frame possible.
As the Penang State Government is urging the said donor of two million free Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine to come forward to clear its name in light of Khairy’s scam claim, let’s not allow such incident to prevent us from exploring creative ways that the private sector can contribute to the well-being of the Malaysian society. – May 20, 2021
