Is Malaysia Fading in the Covid Fight?

Competing companies, tardy procurement, low signup rates has plagued Malaysia in the fight on Covid, according to John Berthelsen of Asia Sentinel (April 16, 2021).

Early on, Malaysia was one of Asia’s leaders. Cases are now surging across much of Southeast Asia, for instance in Brunei, Cambodia, Thailand, and other countries although all are far behind Indonesia and the Philippines. With nearly more than 9,000 cases in the past week, Malaysia’s weekly rise has hit 35 percent during that period, according to statistics compiled by the website Worldometer.

Clusters reported from February 22 – April 2, 2021 were 314. There were 9,316 Covid cases from the reported clusters. Could we not focus on factories and construction sites for movement control rather apply it on a national basis? Furthermore, our incidence of Covid and the deaths thereto are very low compared to others in the region.

The Ministry of Health has been seeking to identify reasons behind low take-up rates and are considering steps to boost vaccine registration. Malaysia has vaccinated only 3.2 percent of its population. The government has only recently concluded phase 1 of the vaccination program, involving medical and nonmedical front-liners.

Some sources have blamed much of the other problems in combating the coronavirus on the Director General of Health, Noor Hisham, who initially was regarded as being instrumental in keeping cases down but who now is widely disliked in government circles for being dictatorial although his public image remains positive.

“In a totally dysfunctional cabinet made up of incompetent ministers, he dictates what should be done and what cannot be done,” the report said, adding that his critics say he held off approving the Pfizer vaccine until well after the European Union, the United States and the United Kingdom had recognized it. Now, with a long line already having obtained supplies including Israel, Bhutan, and Singapore, which has vaccinated at least 28.5 percent of its citizens, and with many more competing for it, Malaysia is described by a source as “at the back of the queue.”

In Malaysia, the latest vaccination rate is 26,523 doses per day, on average. At this pace, it will take another 4.9 years to cover 75% of the population. Why can’t we allow private hospitals, clinics or even pharmacies to do the vaccination? How else can we speed up the process? That assumes we have the vaccines to distribute!

The problem is that “rich countries have cornered the Covid-19 market,” said Khairy Jamaluddin, the coordinating minister for Covid-19 immunization, in a prepared statement and as reported by Asia Sentinel. “Some rich countries have bought enough vaccines for their citizens three to five times over. Many pharmaceutical companies give preference to rich countries for obvious reasons. That is also why Malaysia has had to balance our vaccine portfolio to include Pfizer, AstraZeneca but also those from non-Western countries like Sinovac.” But the key problem is incompetence and self-interest.

 

Reference:

1.     John Berthelsen, Malaysia Fades in Covid Fight, 16 April 2021, Asia Sentinel

2.     Where Are Covid-19 Clusters Found In Malaysia? 7 April 2021, CodeBlue