THE feeling among the 2,000 people living in this Lun Bawang settlement in Lawas is that they have been forgotten and bypassed in Sarawak’s Covid-19 vaccination programme.

As they get to hear news that phase two of the programme has already been rolled out and people elsewhere are getting the jab to protect them from the deadly virus that has killed 148 people (as of April 23) in Sarawak, they have not even reached first base – getting registered.

“I have yet to register myself. Most of the people I know in the village also have not done so,” villager Singa Buas told The Malaysian Insight.

“We don’t know how and where to get registered.”

Long Semadoh folks’ problem in getting inoculated is a reflection of the difficulty faced by those in interior Sarawak in getting the jab.

Last Friday, an assemblyman representing a rural constituency in Baram, disclosed that the Health Ministry had made it a rule that a rural district must have 8,000 registered people before ordering the health team out to administer the vaccination.

Dennis Ngau, the assemblyman for Telang Usan, said getting 8,000 people registered is a tall order, considering the logistical hurdles they have to tackle.

Ngau said the ministry should work out a better alternative that suits the unique conditions of rural Sarawak.

Singa complained about the authorities’ failure to reach out to them in Long Semadoh.

“Nobody has advised us what we should do to get vaccinated,” said the transporter who makes a living ferrying people and transporting daily essentials between the rural villages surrounding Long Semadoh and Lawas town, 110km away.

His daily grind sometimes takes him to villages close to the Sarawak-Kalimantan border.

“Maybe some have got registered, like the ketua kampung (village chief) or staff at the health clinic. I’m not too sure,” he said.

“But our ketua kampung, the clinic staff or people from the resident’s and district offices have not advised us on anything.

“I don’t know why, but I’m sure many of us in the settlement have not registered ourselves.”

They include his parents who are in their 70s and a daughter who is over 18.

He said in all probability, his wife who lives and work in Ba Kelalan – even deeper into Baram and just 4km from the Sarawak-Kalimantan border – might yet to get registered.

The Long Semadoh settlement is a cluster of about half a dozen villages in the highlands popular with tourists who love the outdoors.

Even though its only 110km from Lawas, there are no phone or internet services in this part of Sarawak and television reception is confined to the hours when the electricity generator is switched on.

There is no 24-hour electricity, so they could miss the news hour.

Singa, whose full name in Malay means “wild lion”, said the villagers were earlier informed that a team from the state health department would hold a town hall-like meeting with them at the Long Semadoh community hall on April 23 to explain the vaccination programme and why they should take the jab.

It was postponed without any explanation.

That, Singa said, was the second time that had happened.

“Not so sure when the next one will be held,” he said.

“We need someone to come and explain to us properly. We are not connected by phone or the internet.”

Singa said even though they are not quite connected, people in the village are aware of the pandemic “since the beginning”.

He said they knew about the movement-control order, travel restrictions and standard operating procedure.

“That is why we are waiting, and continue to wait for news on when they will be vaccinated.

“We hope it’s soon. We sincerely hope they have not forgotten us in the rural areas,” he added. – April 25, 2021.