Datuk John Lau
KUCHING (June 2): The Sarawak Patriots Association (SPA) has expressed concerns over the lack of developments in the opening of additional Covid-19 vaccination centres (PPVs) in the state.
Its chairman Datuk Dr John Lau in a statement said while the usage of mega PPVs is a strategy that could work in a high-density urban area, it is bound to fail in Sarawak, where the majority of people are living in semi-urban and rural areas.
He said the association received feedback from the public preferring to get the vaccine shots at their local general practitioner (GP) clinics or health clinics that they are familiar with.
“We believe this will remove one of the factors contributing towards vaccine hesitancy in Sarawak. Having a familiar face deliver the vaccine will help make our people more comfortable and have more trust in the vaccination process,” said Lau.
He also said there were feedback requesting the government to simplify the vaccination registration exercise and allowing elderly person to get their vaccination by just walking into a vaccination centre.
“Besides, SPA has also been made to understand that many people who goes for their vaccination shots end up requiring to have their details in MySejahtera updated, such as for their IC number or mobile phone number.”
Thus, Lau hoped such requirement would not become an impediment in the rollout of vaccination through private health facilities and he asked for the MySejahtera mobile app to be improved immediately.
“It is ridiculous that a digital application can magically alter information that is keyed in by the users. This indicates manual intervention or manipulation which will introduce errors into the data.”
Having said that, Lau said the government had more than a year to prepare for the vaccination rollout but the process so far had shown a lack of planning and foresight.