MP highlights need to raise public awareness of importance of Covid-19 booster, third doses
KUCHING: The government must ramp up efforts to increase awareness of and educate the public about the importance of getting a Covid-19 booster or third dose, said Bandar Kuching MP Dr Kelvin Yii.
He said this was crucial in view of the concerns raised by many quarters, especially regarding the ‘mix-and-match’, or heterologous, vaccination.
He also highlighted in Parliament yesterday the importance on ‘mainstreaming’ vaccination under the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme (PICK), which would include smooth and comprehensive rollout of the booster and third doses.
“The government should also increase (the number and distribution of) educational materials on vaccination and share its benefits with the public to remove the high level of hesitancy especially when it comes to heterologous vaccination.
“I raise the concerns on the ground regarding low uptake of this third dose, especially those about the ‘mix-and-match’, or heterologous, vaccination.
“While there are clear data and researches highlighting the benefits of heterologous vaccination, much of such information is not circulated on the ground enough.
“More must be done by the government to educate them (public) about its (the vaccine’s, as well as the booster and third dose’s) safety and benefits,” he said in a statement yesterday.
Dr Yii also asked the government about any plan for this group of people should they remain insistent against heterologous vaccination, stressing that the government must find alternative means to ensure that they would get the necessary and optimal protection as well.
“That is why a clear timeline must be set by the government regarding the plan to allow Sinovac being administered as the third dose and even as vaccine for our adolescents aged 12 to 17 years old.
“While there are strong benefits for heterologous vaccination, we need to respect the concerns raised by those hesitant (to receive mixed vaccines) and provide alternative for them to make sure that they also have optimal protection against the virus, especially in view of possible new variants.
“Having that extra protection is always better, regardless of the (vaccine’s) efficacy; we must make sure that as many people as possible would get the necessary protection,” he said.
On a related matter, Dr Yii said he also raised the concern about MySejahtera being struck by an error, which caused random users to be wrongly given the Home Surveillance Order (HSO) / Persons Under Surveillance (PUS) status.
He pointed out that this should not have happened since the whole country was dependent on the application to go about their daily activities, including managing their own health status.
“A disruption like this is more than just an inconvenience – it can be costly!
“Imagine if someone suddenly could not board their flight, or could not attend an important meeting just because their MySejahtera (status) had suddenly turned red.
“I questioned the government’s plans to address the issue of cybersecurity and data breach so that issues such as this would not happen again, (and also) to give public confidence over safety of their data,” he added.