Chan, receiving his first Covid-19 jab, said Sabah needs to move faster in getting people registered for vaccination.
KOTA KINABALU: Democratic Action Party (DAP) Kota Kinabalu Member of Parliament Chan Foong Hin today while thanking the healthcare frontliners for inoculating him under the national immunisation program, raised his concern regarding the low registration rate for the Covid-19 vaccine by the people in Sabah as compared to the rest of Malaysia.
“Yesterday morning I have taken the first jab of the Covid-19 vaccine, and I would like to thank KKM, PKD Kota Kinabalu and the other frontliners for doing a good job in ensuring that the vaccine is delivered as scheduled. However, I am worried and am concerned about the low vaccine uptake rate in Sabah,” said Chan.
According to Jawatankuasa Khas Jaminan Akses Bekalan Vaksin Covid-19 (JKJAV), only 8.2% of Sabahans have registered for the vaccine as at March 15, 12 am.
“In Putrajaya, 69.5% of the people had registered for the vaccine. Even in Sarawak, 21.2% of the population have registered. Sabah’s 8.2% is the lowest in the country, even lower than Kelantan at 11.8%, which I find very concerning,” he said.
Chan then remarked that despite being larger in land size and lesser population than Sabah, Sarawak has managed to inoculate more people. As at March 15, 32,028 Sarawakians have received the first dose, compared with only 30,433 Sabahans recorded.
“What is the cause of the lowest take up rate in Sabah? Is it due to lack of awareness? Is it due to technology barriers where many interior folks do not have access to the internet? Or is it due to lack of manpower to assist in registration?
“I don’t think it is due to any anti-vaccine movement, and therefore the authorities ought to do something serious about it and start going down to the ground and register these people,” he said.
Chan noted that Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor was the first person to have been given the jab in Sabah on March 4 and that Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari received the vaccine on Feb 26.
“Both GRS and GPS are PN component parties and are part of the ruling government at federal level. As such, there is no reason why the people of Sabah should not be given at least equal priority as the people of Sarawak,” he went on.
Chan said he had suggested in Parliament during the debate for Budget 2021 last year that Sabahans should be given the priority for Covid-19 vaccination as Sabah had been the epicentre of the third Covid-19 wave in Malaysia, and that he reiterates the same call on the federal government.
“Even though Sabah recorded 29 cases yesterday (15 March), the lowest since September, it doesn’t mean that we should feel complacent with the current situation. It is always better to prevent than to cure,” he said.
Chan said DAP Sabah elected representatives have been actively setting up booths to assist the government in encouraging and helping the public register for Covid-19 vaccination.
“In this regard, the DAP supports the government’s initiative in registering as many people as possible for the vaccine. I hope that this GRS Sabah state government can acknowledge that we in the opposition can assist too and come out with a ‘Whole of Society’ approach in dealing with the low vaccine uptake rate in Sabah by allowing us to help officially,” he said.
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