Fatimah (right) shares a light moment with Midah upon arrival at the PPV.
MIRI (June 26): A blind masseur and her husband received their first doses of the Covid-19 vaccine at the vaccination centre (PPV) in Normah Medical Specialists Centre in Kuching – thanks to the initiative by Minister of Welfare, Community Wellbeing, Women, Family and Childhood Development Dato Sri Fatimah Abdullah.
In her Facebook post on Thursday, the minister said Midah Sujun initially refused to be vaccinated after hearing bad things about it.
Midah and her husband on their way to the PPV at Normah Medical Specialists Centre in Kuching.
“Initially, she was scared because she was told by someone that it (vaccination) would be painful and ‘boleh mati’ (could cause death).
“It was only recently that she changed her mind, seeing that many of her neighbours had received the vaccine shots,” said Fatimah, adding that Midah’s husband, who is also blind, is a victim of a stroke.
The squatters’ area at Jalan Cawan Kubor in Kuching, where Midah and her husband live.
The couple is living in a squatters’ area at Jalan Cawan Kubor in Kuching, which has neither electricity supply nor telephone landline.
“Midah doesn’t know how and where to register (for vaccination) – she doesn’t have a smartphone.
“Amidst the present MCO (Movement Control Order) period, she and her husband are confined in their home.
“I know that we must reach out to them, with the help from Mathew, Ching and driver Mahli, we brought the couple to the PPV at Normah Medical Centre and the rest is history.
“Alhamdulillah (Praise be to Allah),” said Fatimah.
The minister commended the medical centre for going all out in administering the Covid-19 vaccine to individuals with disabilities (PwDs), with allocation of 20 to 25 slots specifically for this group daily.
She said her ministry, through the Welfare Department, had been working closely with the Ministry of Health to have all the registered PwDs undergo vaccination, but she was also concerned about some of them might fell through the cracks of the registration system.
She told The Borneo Post that her ministry had also included 500 PwDs outside the registered list to be vaccinated.
“It’s not easy to administer vaccines on highly-sensitive autistic individuals, but the frontliners at the government and other privately-run PPVs throughout Sarawak have shown commendable patience, empathy and professionalism in performing their duties,” she added.
Adding on, Fatimah called upon all district Welfare offices to liaise closely with the grassroots leaders in their respective areas to identify all PwDs who had yet to be registered for vaccination nd forward the list to the relevant authorities.