INVESTIGATIONS will be carried out into allegations that Langkawi residents ineligible for vaccination under the current phase 2 of the national immunisation programme, have received their jabs, said Khairy Jamaluddin.

Khairy, who is the coordinating minister for the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme, told The Malaysian Insight that he will check on the vaccination status on the island.

“I have to check the status in Langkawi. The guidelines are that when there is a high number of no-shows, the vaccination centre can call people who are next on the (waiting) list,” he said.

The science, technology and innovation minister added that some states have also started vaccinating phase 3 recipients.

“But I will investigate this,” he said.

There have been complaints by residents in Langkawi that those in their 20s and 30s, who are supposed to come under phase 3 of the programme, have received their jabs before those listed under phase 2.

T. Karina Tunku Shamsul Bahrin, 52, a Langkawi resident, questioned why these people who were young and healthy were being prioritised over people in her age category.

“Why aren’t the appointments given according to age? Why are people younger than I, with no co-morbidities, getting vaccinated?” she asked.

Karina said the government needs to be more transparent with the vaccination programme.

She had written to Khairy, Health Minister Dr Adham Baba and Langkawi lawmaker Dr Mahathir Mohamad to get an explanation but has not received a reply.

“I called the district health office in Langkawi and they said that they had no jurisdiction over appointments. The MySejahtera hotline gave me the same response,” she said.

Phase 1 of the immunisation programme started on February 26 and involved 500,000 front-liners.

Phase 2 was scheduled from April to August, for about 9.4 million senior citizens aged 60 and above and high-risk groups.

Phase 3 was scheduled to begin from last month until February next year, aimed at vaccinating about 13.7 million people aged 18 and above, both citizens and non-citizens.

Cheah, a 24-year-old medical student, is one such recipient of the vaccine on the island.

She received her first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine on May 25 at the Ayer Hangat health clinic and is scheduled to receive the second dose on June 15.

“I had voluntarily registered at the health clinic to take the Sinovac vaccine because it wasn’t highly received here. I put my name on the waiting list. As a medical student I go to the hospital daily and am exposed to risks.

“I then received a call from the clinic with a date for my appointment and was asked to come on May 25. I was given Pfizer as they had run out of Sinovac,” she said.

Another girl who had recently transferred to Langkawi for a new job said her colleague received a WhatsApp text asking those who are interested to get vaccinated to register manually at the Ayer Hangat health clinic.

“We got the text and we went to the health clinic to register. They asked us to write down our names, identification and contact number. I did notice that many who came to register were old people,” said the 31-year-old woman.

After three days, she got a call from the health clinic informing her to come on May 26 for her first shot.

“I received the first dose of the Pfizer vaccine on May 26 and my second dose is scheduled for June 15. All 10 of my colleagues who registered with me also got their shots,” she said. – June 10, 2021.