AUGUST 26 — We refer to the article that was published in the Malay Mail on August 22, 2021 entitled “GPs left standing high and dry” by HH Lim.
The National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme (NIP) has been planned to achieve accelerated vaccination targets taking into consideration the availability of vaccines supply and delivery.
The programme will eventually be ramped down as these targets are achieved and objectives are met.
Consequently, we envisaged the involvement of all parties in the programme to reduce in line with the achievement of these objectives.
For information, the Covid-19 Immunisation Task Force (CITF) takes into account various factors in the operation of NIP, such as capacity, number of vaccines, vaccine supply and pandemic control.
In the case of general practitioners (GPs), ProtectHealth Corp Sdn Bhd, which is a company under the Ministry of Health, has been tasked to rope in private medical practitioners in NIP. The GPs were invited to participate in the programme from as early as May 2021. To date, 1,688 of about 7,000 GPs are involved in the programme.
As at August 24, 2021, out of 32,212,527 doses of vaccination given nationwide under NIP, almost 1,087,813 million doses have been administered by GPs. This number constitutes 3.4 per cent of overall vaccines dispensed under NIP.
Other than the GPs, there are 471 other organisations comprising private hospitals, private venues and industries involved in NIP. There are different types of PPVs that involve private health practitioners.
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There are General Practitioner (GP) PPV, Specialist Clinic PPV, Private Hospital PPV, Ambulatory Care Centre PPV, Integrated PPV, Industrial PPV and outreach programmes by GPs. Vaccination at all Integrated PPVs are managed by health care organisations (HCOs).
The Klang Valley saw the involvement of 760 GPs who helped in administering 438,812 doses or 3.6 per cent of total vaccines given in the Klang Valley. Additionally in Klang Valley, 45 out of 54 PPVs run by HCOs consist of consortiums of GPs, networks of private clinics, private hospitals and university hospitals.
The recent Operation Surge Capacity saw most of Klang Valley residents vaccinated, based on the data provided by the Department of Statistics Malaysia. However, we continue to receive new registrations via MySejahtera, mostly foreigners including those outside of the Klang Valley.
For logistical and operational efficiency as well as speed and scale of implementation, we will be issuing appointments to these new registrants to be inoculated at PPVs which are more equipped to handle communication needs by providing signages in different languages, translators and more experienced personnel in managing foreign nationals.
We would like to highlight the fact that outside of Klang Valley, CITF has not made changes to any arrangement as far as GPs involvement in NIP is concerned because the vaccination programme is still ongoing.
We would also like to emphasise that all the processes and requirements for GPs that the author had stated such as attending webinars and training are pertinent procedures for handling and administering newly-developed Covid-19 vaccines. Additionally, efforts required in calling vaccinees are also part and parcel of ensuring attendance to avoid vaccine wastage and to ensure that as many people are inoculated as quickly as possible.
As published, up until August 24, more than 79 per cent of the adult population have received at least their first dose and approximately 58 per cent have completed their vaccination. For Klang Valley alone, taking into consideration vaccination of undocumented residents and non-residents, 109.6 per cent have received their first dose vaccination while at least 86 per cent have completed their second dose.
The future participation of GPs in NIP will be crucial to ensure continuity of NIP as PPVs ramp down and cease their operations as well as to cater for requirements beyond the programme.
Examples would be the involvement of the GPs in new programmes such as booster dose, adolescent vaccination (ages 12-17 years) as well as continuous vaccination for new registrants which will be decided by the Ministry of Health.
* Datuk Ir. Ts. Dr Siti Hamisah binti Tapsir is the Secretary General of the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (Mosti).
** This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail.
