See Chee How
KUCHING (May 22): Batu Lintang assemblyman See Chee How is urging the federal and state government to implement a clear and firm strategy to tackle the Covid-19 pandemic in the country and the state.
He said currently not only there is no exit plan or strategy but there is simply no political will and leadership to do the necessary.
He said the announcement by the Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin last night said that that the country will have a stricter or tightened MCO 3.0, with the government imposing further restrictions on social activities and some economic sectors in an effort to curb the spread of Covid-19 cases.
“Is it a Strategic Movement Control Order (SMCO) or a Targeted Movement Control Order (TMCO)?
“It is as creative as Sarawak’s innovation of a Conditional Movement Control Order (CMCO) with a circuit breaker, but it fails at the outset because it does not tell us how it can stem or reverse the tide of the pandemic, enabling the country to accelerate the performing and execution of measures to manage and get back on top of the pandemic,” he said in a statement.
See pointed out that according to the figures released by the Ministry of Health, for the week ending May 19, a total of 146,570 Malaysians have received their first dose of Covid-19 vaccine, 95,084 Malaysians have been inoculated with the second dose, which means that 3.23 per cent of eligible Malaysians have been fully vaccinated.
He noted that in Sarawak, for the same period, a total of 133,421 Sarawakians have received their first dose of Covid-19 vaccine, 82,041 Sarawakians have been inoculated with the second dose; that is to say that 3.73 per cent of eligible Sarawakians have been fully vaccinated.
He said with 22,645 doses of vaccine being administered in the last week, it averaged 3,235 doses per day.
“From the official daily tracker, if we are to reach the target of inoculating 80 per cent of all eligible Sarawakians by 31 August, we need to administer 41,528 doses per day for the next 102 days,” he said.
On the registration for vaccination, See said the country as a whole has registered 10.36 million eligible Malaysians on May 19, or 40.47 per cent.
In Sarawak, some 1.142 million eligible Sarawakians had been registered on May 19, or 51.94 per cent.
“We have to register more than 10,000 eligible Sarawakians for vaccination a day, but we are on average registering only 2,129 a day.
“It looks likely that the federal and state government will enforce mandatory or compulsory vaccination to ensure that the country will achieve herd immunity by the end of this year, because there is a lack of initiative and effort from the government to encourage more Malaysians and Sarawakians to voluntarily register themselves for vaccination,” he said.
See lamented that the progress of the country’s procurement of vaccines had also been uninspiring and the rate of immunization of less than four percent Malaysians and Sarawakians are a letdown.
He said although Sarawak has taken the right step towards procuring its own vaccine, much more must be undertaken quickly to mitigate the threats and risk of Sarawakians’ lives and health in this pandemic.
He said while the procurement of vaccines is totally in the hands of the state government, the public can and must be mobilized and rallied to be registered for the vaccination, and this include looking into the incentives of giving privileges to those who have been inoculated with coronavirus vaccines.
He noted that in many countries, the governments have made plans and some have rolled out the initiatives to issue a Covid-19 immunization or vaccination “certificate” or “passport” that who have been immunized will be able to get access to flights, restaurants, concerts, cinemas and fully resume their economic activities.
He said the Prime Minister had mooted the idea when he visited Sarawak last month, the federal Health Minister have spoken about it, but nothing has been done towards it.
He believed that the implementation of such a vaccination certificate or passport will have its moral and societal implications, and it cannot be rightfully effected before the vaccines are made available to everybody.
See said while the state government is certain and confident that sufficient vaccines will be procured, and it is ready to vaccinate every eligible Sarawakians by this August, he suggested that Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg and his cabinet ministers look into the implementation of this incentive scheme in September the following month, and thereby encourage all Sarawakians to voluntarily register themselves for vaccination.
“The government must initiate and mobilize a concerted effort through working together with the private sectors and the general populace to ensure that we can succeed in overcoming the pandemic.
“The speedy mass vaccination to create herd immunity is key to the challenge, and our most viable solution for recovery and to return Sarawak to normalcy,” he said.