KUCHING: Sarawak Patriots Association (SPA) has urged the Ministry of Health (MOH) and Sarawak Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) to provide a more detailed report of those who have been vaccinated.
Its chairman Datuk John Lau Pang Heng said such a report must include their age, the responses from those who have been scheduled for vaccination, and the adverse effects following vaccinations, if any.
“These reports should be made available online. Hopefully, with this transparency, the informed public will respond to the vaccination programme positively,” he said on Monday (May 17).
He said the authorities are also urged to have a clear plan to achieve the herd immunity goal in Sarawak.
“For instance, how many persons can the MOH vaccinate per day by location? What is the plan to get sufficient vaccines for Sarawakians?
“The news makes people confused. One said Sarawak-purchased vaccines will be available next month while another said it will be available next week,” he said.
He said that SPA had conducted a survey on the vaccination for which 500 people between the ages of 18 and 70 were randomly selected from a database of 5,000 people.
“Ninety-five percent of the respondents want the authority to have more transparency. Ninety percent want a detailed report of the number of persons vaccinated and registered for vaccinations.
“Eighty-nine percent want to know the supplies of vaccines to meet the demands and 96 percent would like the government to have an outreach programme to register those qualified for vaccinations to respond positively,” he said.
Lau also suggested that the relevant authorities can work with the non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and volunteers to educate the communities to make people trust the vaccines.
“However, the government would need to ensure that the vaccine supplies are in place first,” he said.
