FORMER prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad has urged Malaysians to get vaccinated as new Covid-19 infections approach the 10,000 mark.

In videos posted on YouTube and Facebook, the 95-year-old said that the Covid-19 pandemic had reached an alarming level in Malaysia.

“We are reporting an average of 8,000 cases daily for the past week because many of us have not followed the SOP. That’s a problem,” said Dr Mahathir.

“We are told to maintain social distance but many have ignored this advice and gotten infected,” he said in the message.

He said that although Malaysia had begun its national Covid-19 vaccination programme, the progress has been cramped by the poor registration process and lukewarm response from the public.

“It has been shown that the vaccination is effective and in the United Kingdom, for instance, new cases have fallen by 70%,” said the Langkawi MP.

But in Malaysia, Dr Mahathir said the response has been lukewarm, with some 10,000 having failed to show up for their vaccination appointments recently.

“The registration process was also chaotic as online registration alone is ineffective with many older people and uneducated people unable to register.”

He said that the government must consider mobile vaccination so that more people can be inoculated quickly.

Malaysians, the Pejuang chief added, must not be picky with the vaccines. 

“Whether it’s the Sinovac from China or the Russian vaccine, these have all proven to be effective.

“But if we don’t vaccinate, more will be infected and more will die as the hospitals are overloaded,” said Dr Mahathir. – May 29, 2021.