A nurse prepares a dose of Covid-19 vaccine for a recipient. — Bernama photo
KUCHING (June 11): The Malaysian Medical Association (MAA) has called on state governments to emulate Selangor’s efforts to procure Covid-19 vaccines directly from a manufacturer.
MMA president Prof Datuk Dr Subramaniam Muniandy said state governments should do so instead of waiting for a surge in cases.
He said the MMA welcomes the Selangor government’s move to obtain more than 500,000 vaccine doses directly from a vaccine manufacturer for older persons, the industrial, manufacturing and services sectors workforce, as well as adolescents in the state.
Dr Subramaniam MMA also supports the extension of Selangor’s free Covid-19 screening programme, which had notable success detecting ‘silent carriers’ of the disease in the state.
“Other state governments should also consider similar vaccination and screening programmes. States seeing an increase in transmissions should be screening the community and speeding up their vaccinations,” he said in a statement today.
Dr Subramaniam stressed that every state government must act fast to protect lives and livelihoods in managing the pandemic.
He said MMA looked forward to the successful implementation of programmes in Selangor.
“It was confirmed in a media report that the vaccines are one of the three approved by the National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency (NPRA).
“Getting more than 1,000 private general practitioners (GPs) on board the Selangor Covid-19 Vaccination Programme (SCVP) is indeed the right move as speed, convenience, and accessibility are important in increasing vaccination uptake,” he added.
Dr Subramaniam said he is confident more GPs will participate.
“We are targeting a participation of around 2,000 GPs in Selangor and in bordering areas in Kuala Lumpur. Selangor, the most developed state with the largest population, is currently the worst hit state with the highest number of Covid-19 cases.
“This effort to increase vaccine uptake will be a much-needed boost to break the chain of infections, speed up economic recovery in the state, and protect against any future disruptions in all sectors,” he added.