MANY leaders and civil society groups have called on Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin to take a softer approach in getting the vaccination-hesitant to take the jab, and not resort to threats that the government “will make life difficult for those who refuse”.

The country is already seeing the benefits of the vaccination drive, which has covered about 90% of the adult population and is now at the tail end of the programme.

This being so, the government can opt for a more friendly, not coercive, approach to deal with the unvaccinated.

The vaccinated are already enjoying a lot of incentives and privileges. Of the 10%, perhaps about 5% or less could be the hardcore group refusing vaccination on religious, medical or for personal reasons.

The rest may have been those who waited for the long queues to ease or problems associated with the blank vaccine shots to be settled, and may want to get the vaccine now.

As such, public hospitals and clinics should now be able to host walk-in vaccination programmes, due to the smaller numbers of those wanting the vaccines.

There is no need for the costly vaccination centres and the government can set aside a room with a trained nurse in the hospitals to give the jab.

Vaccination is not rocket science and any trained nurse can do it. It should be from 9am-5pm every day, including Sundays, for good public response.

There is no need for registration, appointment or other delaying procedures. Those wanting the vaccines can go straight to the hospitals or clinics to get it done.

Don’t make life hard by insisting on appointment or registration. I am sure the ease with which one can be vaccinated in a public hospital, will be a drawing factor to attract the latecomers.

It must be noted here that there were many cases of infections spreading from the crowds. Now people are more confident and will opt for vaccination under these favourable circumstances.

Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin should now focus more on the vaccinated, who are now throwing all caution to the wind and indulging in risky behaviour.

Many are not following standard operating procedures (SOP) and feel that they are protected by herd immunity or are immune to the virus.

In fact, the vaccinated are more of a danger to the unvaccinated, rather than the other way round.

The unvaccinated exercise great caution and follow the SOP stringently due to their perceived vulnerability.

The government has finally opened all sectors despite some risks of a surge in infectivity rates should something go wrong.

The infection rates are hovering around 5,000 cases daily, which is still alarming. Now that commercial operations have begun, it is also time to remind the employers of the need for all their foreign workers, documented or illegal, to be vaccinated.

It should also be followed by surprise checks by enforcement personnel. The higher the vaccination rates for foreign workers the safer it will be for the working environment in the SMEs, as they have the highest infection clusters.

With the government easing restriction let us keep our fingers crossed and hope for the best that the decreasing number of infections show that vaccination is having the desired effect.

This may or may not be true as currently the UK, despite its mass vaccination programme, still encounters very high infectivity rates. – October 20, 2021.

* V. Thomas reads The Malaysian Insight.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.