Dr Kelvin Yii
KUCHING (Mar 5): The government should not mute the complaints and concerns raised by medical frontliners with regards to the Covid-19 vaccination plan, said Bandar Kuching MP Dr Kelvin Yii.
The chairman of the parliamentary select committee (PSC) on health, science and innovation said it was improper for the government and Ministry of Health (MoH) to threaten and instil fear in medical frontliners for speaking up.
“I express strong concerns on a circular released by the MoH, warning all of its staff not to make comments on the Covid-19 vaccination plan or post pictures on social media.
“MoH should be looking seriously at those allegations rather than going against those that bring up the complaints,” he said in a statement today.
The Democratic Action Party lawmaker opined that the government should not just praise these frontliners and make them look like heroes in the fight against Covid-19 when it was convenient for them but make threats of disciplinary action against these frontliners when it was not.
“While we understand that there may be official channels for complaints, but they must understand, many of such complaints were not properly investigated including complaints of the ‘Dr Sexual Predator’ that was exposed by the media was also made through formal channels, but action was only taken when it was exposed to the media.
“This is important as such allegations may concern VVIPs which may give rise to the perception that it may likely be just swept under the carpet without proper investigation,” pointed out Dr Yii.
He asserted that whistle-blowers and frontliners ought to be given adequate protection from any form of disciplinary action especially one particular whistle-blower medical officer who was being targeted by certain irresponsible quarters for social media posts showing pictures of queue cutters.
At the same time, he said all reports of queue cutters must be investigated transparently and those proven to have “cut-queue” should be exposed in public and the necessary actions be taken against them.
“This should serve as a lesson to all as well as to instil confidence in the public that there are no double standards in the implementation of the NCIP (National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme),” he added.