SELANGOR, the most developed state with the largest population is currently the worst hit state with the highest number of COVID-19 cases.
Therefore, the Selangor Government’s move to obtain more than 500,000 vaccine doses directly from a vaccine manufacturer for older individuals, the industrial, manufacturing and services sectors workforce as well as adolescents in the state is timely and is welcomed by the Malaysian Medical Association (MMA).
“We look forward to its successful implementation,” MMA said in a statement. “It was confirmed in a media report that the vaccines are one of the three approved by the National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency (NPRA).”
This effort to increase vaccine uptake, according to MMA, will be a much-needed boost to break the chain of infections, speed up economic recovery in the state and protect against any future disruptions in all sectors.
Furthermore, as speed, convenience and accessibility are important to increase vaccination uptake, MMA opined that getting more than 1,000 private general practitioners (GPs) on board the Selangor COVID-19 Vaccination Programme (SCVP) is indeed the right move.
“MMA is confident more general practitioners (GPs) will participate and we are targeting a participation of around 2,000 GPs in Selangor as well as in bordering areas in Kuala Lumpur,” it pointed out.
“We also welcome the extension of the state’s free COVID-19 screening programme which has had notable success detecting ‘silent carriers’ of the disease in the state.”
MMA also pointed out that other state governments should also consider similar vaccination and screening programmes. In addition, states seeing an increase in transmissions, should be screening the community and speeding up their vaccinations.
“We should not be waiting for a surge in cases as in managing the pandemic, we need to act fast to protect lives and livelihood,” MMA concluded. – June 11, 2021
