Deputy Health Minister Datuk Dr Noor Azmi Ghazali has recently said that fatigue of health workers may be the reason for recent cases where empty syringes were used during the vaccination process.
This is an unacceptable statement, as it’s a matter of life and death. The Ministry must ensure that enough personnel working reasonable hours are there to inoculate the public, so these “criminal” incidents do not repeat.
The whole process looks a bit fishy as reports are coming out that now the government is not allowing videos to be taken of the vaccination process.
There is no need for any secrecy and people should be allowed to take videos for their own peace of mind, especially when there are all these rumors flying around. MOH should take it a step further by proving that the syringes are filled with vaccine.
The government must also ramp up security checks, add more centres and prevent Covid from spreading in these centres as this prevents some from wanting to go to these centres.
MOH and PDRM must also take all public complaints like the empty vaccine shots seriously and not dismiss them without thorough investigations into the complaints. This will increase public confidence in the system at place.
The government’s plan to issue digital certificates for vaccinated people to travel overseas might prove futile if this “empty syringe” matter is not resolved.
I also agree with Pekan MP Najib Razak’s suggestion that special bonuses must be paid to contract doctors if they cannot be absorbed as permanent staff.
The Cabinet has certainly disappointed in this area as the workload of doctors has increased tremendously recently when compared to other civil servants in the same category. They also work with patients and not at home like the others. There are cases of long working hours even up to 24 hours if required and sometimes have no time for meals. Their work is demanding yet the government has forsaken them.
The Government should immediately confirm all contract positions to full time positions and then populate health centres with more doctors and reduce work hours of doctors accordingly.
Long term plans can be to build more health centres and speak to JPA to have a better structure for doctors and health workers.