LETTER | Prioritising vaccine rollout for badly-hit states

LETTER | We live in Selangor; my husband is in his early 60s and officially an 'OKU' while I am his caregiver in my late 50s and unemployed. We registered for our vaccines on MySejahtera in February 2021 but to date, no information has been given on our status and despite his OKU status. 

In the meanwhile, we read every day of Selangor’s increasing Covid-19 infection rates - the highest in the country. We read about screenings being done in the state, but that is not going to prevent the virus from attacking. There seems to be a slowness in vaccinating Selangorians which makes you wonder if this is an official policy to punish the state for voting in an opposition state government. Is there a deliberate and unspoken policy to do so?

When the second round of the AstraZeneca vaccine opt-in was announced, we decided to go for it. My husband managed to get a spot in the over 60 age group. However, the third round was launched with little thought for seniors under 60 and certainly little preparation as far as Covid-19 Immunisation Task Force's (CITF) RM70 million ringgit app was concerned. 

As informed, we tried logging on to the vaccine website at noon, but the site was unavailable until about 20 minutes later. We started filling in the required details finally but then the 'Selangor' button to choose our state was not functioning properly and the dates failed to show. Eventually, after several stabs, we managed to select the state; and after several more tries, we picked the dates in green.

Still, it necessary to ask - was someone manipulating the app to disallow others from signing up? A more crucial question I have is why the people are being given the runaround with these vaccines and being asked to participate in a lottery for our lives while the captains of the ship of state sit securely in their lavish homes, having got themselves and their families safely vaccinated and enjoying their holiday homes and their swimming pools. The optics here are a representation of the failure of this leadership.

More disheartening is the fact that we have no voice and no representation. The Parliament is in limbo, ostensibly, because of an emergency – an emergency was to have been used to rope in private sector to help with vaccine rollout. Where is that cooperation? Instead, we hear stories about the import of vaccines, repackaging at great costs to public coffers and such fascinating ventures, which may or may not benefit some powerful people and entities.

I just want to remind the government, the politicians and the opposition that it is at times like these we see the true substance of the person and the parties involved in apparently taking care of the nation. 

We want true leadership and heroism, not some cowards who take care of themselves and their own. We need to know whether anyone in this administration is looking at the infection rates in Selangor and moving mountains to prioritise vaccine rollout for the largest state in the country. 

Your failure will mean our deaths. And the nation will remember this.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.