JOHOR BARU, Aug 23 ― A Johor Parti Amanah Negara (Amanah) elected representative today urged all civil servants, especially teachers, in the state to abide by the Sultan of Johor’s decree for them to be vaccinated to protect themselves and others against Covid-19.
Pulai Sebatang assemblyman Muhammad Taqiuddin Cheman said he will fully uphold Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar’s advice to take the vaccine as a measure to protect himself, his family and the community
“In the meantime, preparation among teachers to take the vaccine is something that should be given due attention as part of necessary steps before school resumes.
“We should learn from the increasing number of Covid-19 positive cases and the high deaths in Johor,” said Muhammad Taqiuddin in a statement issued here tonight.
His comments came after Sultan Ibrahim today took issue with the 779 teachers for rejecting Covid-19 vaccination.
He said the latter’s refusal not only jeopardised their own lives, but that of their families, students and also the community.
Muhammad Taqiuddin added statistics for the state today showed that the cumulative number of positive cases was at 122,306 cases, of which 1,367 were new cases.
“While the latest number of victims who died today is at 64, bringing it to a total of 1,593 deaths,” he said, adding that the number of active cases was still high with a total of 22,895.
Muhammad Taqiuddin, who is also the Johor Pakatan Harapan (PH) Youth chief, hopes that efforts to achieve herd immunity should be given priority to restore the lives of the people who were affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.
“More worryingly, there have been cases involving the Delta variant reported in the state where it can spread very quickly due to their high infectious rate.
“Therefore, one of the common initiatives that we all need to take is to take the vaccine,” said Muhammad Taqiuddin.
Yesterday, Johor Crown Prince Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim summoned the Johor Education Department director and the 779 teachers who rejected Covid-19 vaccination for an audience with him.
On a post on his Twitter account, Tunku Ismail said the current priority is to overcome the pandemic so that the people and the state can return to life as normal.
Earlier, State Education, Information, Heritage and Culture Committee chairman Mazlan Bujang told the Johor state assembly that a group of teachers had refused to be inoculated.
He said, however, efforts were underway through the Johor Education Department and the State Religious Department to brief the teachers on the benefits of being vaccinated.
