The Malaysian Insight

THE government today rolled out its pilot mobile vaccination programme in Kuala Lumpur where it is targeting 15,000 to 20,000 vaccinations a day by the end of July, said Federal Territories Minister Annuar Musa.

Two mobile vaccination centres were set up at the low-cost PPR Muhibbah housing in the capital’s Lembah Pantai district this morning, where close to 1,000 people are expected to be vaccinated by the end of the day.

“Today is the pilot project where we hope to vaccinate around 1,000 people within eight to nine hours,” Annuar said.

“We hope to vaccinate more people when more trucks will be rolled out next month, if this current exercise is approved.”

He said the response has been good but the authorities will have to work on the issue of social distancing as there is overcrowding.

Annuar also encouraged more volunteers to participate in the mobile vaccination programme to help out with the elderly, especially those in wheelchairs.

Annuar said that the number of trucks for the programme would be increased with the Ministry of Health’s approval.

“As of now we are using two trucks. Once we get the approval from the ministry, we hope to increase to 10 trucks by June 15, and to 39 trucks by the end of July,” he said.

He also said that, aside from the mobile trucks, the mobile vaccination programme would also be carried out in tents and in multipurpose halls.

“In the coming days, I will also provide free shuttle services so that it will be easier for those who live nearby to move around,” he said.

PPR resident Zamanah Hijub, 60, said the process was very smooth and easy, especially for senior citizens.

“I prefer them doing a mobile vaccination rather than me going to a vaccination centre as I do not have a vehicle to travel.

“I encourage all the senior citizens in this community to get vaccinated since we do not know when it will be our turn if we wait for MySejahtera appointments,” she said.

Sales executive Vijeya Ramakrishnan, 42, who is also a committee member at PPR Muhibbah, said that she was very lucky to get this opportunity as she had been waiting for more than three months since her registration on MySejahtera.

“Despite being below 60 years old, I was chosen to be vaccinated today because I’m a residential committee member and we go door to door to get people registered, which puts us at high risk,” she said.

Elaine Wong, 23, who brought her 54-year-old father to get vaccinated said that she was happy that he got his jab today.

“I tried applying my dad for the AstraZeneca but we didn’t make it as the slots were taken within an hour.

“Now that my dad is vaccinated via this mobile programme, I can feel less worried for him because he is in the high risk category,” she said.

This pilot programme is conducted by MyMedic@Wilayah and will be at Muhibbah PPR for three to four days. – June 7, 2021.