JUNE 9 — “Why haven't I got a vaccine appointment yet?” It's what I'm hearing not just from senior citizens but from people my age who, by right, should have started getting appointments last month.
It's a given that the national vaccine website and app will have the occasional hiccup because this is tech we're talking about.
Tech's very nature is ridden with innate perversity, or Finagle's Law: anything that can go wrong, will go wrong.
We keep hearing the refrain “It's a supply issue” while at the same time there is no transparency as to how many vaccines are available at any given moment.
The lack of transparency extends however to not just vaccine supply but cost. Many have pointed out the shortcomings in the website and app's design and functionality, with some rightly questioning how much it really cost and where the funding actually went.
Would it really be so hard to ask for an itemised bill or is that somehow not in the budget? Enquiring minds need to know.
Stop shooting the questioners
Someone got arrested last week for questioning the vaccine rollout's lack of transparency with a rather innocuous tweet, apparently a victim of a CITF police report.
By that measure I should have been arrested multiple times over the years but as you can see, I am still here writing snide columns.
While other countries have managed to clearly explain just who was being vaccinated, in what order, and with what reasoning, instead, we keep changing the criteria.
The definition for frontliner seems to change each time I blink. Suddenly there are hotel frontliners, casino frontliners and oil rig frontliners.
I also question the choice to fully vaccinate our politicians over the more vulnerable high-risk groups. Why do they get both jabs first when I am not sure if the GPs nearest me have?
If someone in my suburb suddenly gets Covid symptoms they're going to go see one of the nearby GPs and not my MP or ADUN so really, I would think they would prioritise the former.
What needs to be fixed
The whole “let us force people to come to mega-PPVs” is ridiculous. First there's the assumption that everyone can easily go to them or even afford to.
Taking a Grab to get my vaccination cost me around RM50 return, which is not affordable for everyone.
Taking the train or bus was not an option for me as the lowered frequency of public transport options meant crowds, not to mention recent confirmed cases who did take public transport and could have infected others.
It would be tragic to catch Covid on the way to my vaccine appointment now, wouldn't it?
The vaccines must go to the people instead of making the old, infirm and disabled hunt down vaccines.
Get some help, please
Rather than waste money on veiled FoodPanda ads, perhaps ministers should actively aid vaccination efforts.
As I'd said before this needs to be a collective effort and more needs to be done as well for public-private partnerships.
Of course I'm leery about private companies and their “offers” to help when it's really about getting their workers vaccinated so they can force them to come to work.
Still, if private companies are willing to donate funds and resources, why not? At the same time, vaccines are not a magical solution for the economy.
Britain, even with its widespread vaccination measures, is still hesitant to repeal lockdown measures, refusing to confirm if they will be eased come June 21.
The vulnerable and actual frontliners must be prioritised before we let the private sector tap into supplies. Financial status must not determine who gets vaccinated first -- how is it right that high-ranking officials get vaccinated over the aged makcik selling goreng pisang on the street?
Give all the makciks and pakciks, uncles and aunties their vaccines please and at the same time, please don't try to convince me celebrities with mysterious ailments deserve them more.
As someone suggested, perhaps, if we need to, we can even recruit the surat khabar lama guys to spread vaccine news or even offer them. Mobilise the ordinary citizens and let's get as many people vaccinated before we wake up one day and find our death tolls have reached four figures.
Let the citizens try and save themselves because it's now glaringly obvious we can't wait on the government to do it.
* This is the personal opinion of the columnist.
