WE enthusiastically applaud you, Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation Khairy Jamaluddin, and fully support your call to “let’s do this together” and your encouraging statement that the vaccination programme will now include more sectors, including plantation and retail.

We are relieved that the ramping up of vaccination is gaining speed and momentum. We are further comforted that more than 18 million doses of vaccines will be delivered in July.

As the National Recovery Plan is predicated on achieving vaccination targets, it is extremely crucial that whatever vaccine delivered should be administered as soon as possible so that our country can start the long and arduous route to reopening and recovery. Every day delayed further multiplies the difficulties and chance of recovery and even our very survival. Critically and most acutely now, time is of the utmost essence.

We thus would like to make a plea that all preparations be made to ensure the 18 million vaccines arriving in July will be administered this month itself. We firmly believe this can be achieved by mobilising all the willing resources from private clinics to private sectors like shopping malls and factories to host vaccination centres for this purpose.

As vaccines will be provided free by the government, we recommend that all these private initiatives be given maximum cooperation to administer as many upon demand. These free vaccines should not be diverted to those initiatives that are commercially driven and which charge commercial rates.

With the current ramped up deliveries and ramped up inoculations, we are confident the threshold of people having received their first dose will be exceeded to allow the economy to be reopened before 15 July 2021.

This can be achieved with concerted and urgent efforts. We cannot afford anymore not to reopen our economy as more and more countries have already done so. China, being the first to reopen, is reaping tremendous economic rewards with their exports exceeding even pre-Covid levels. The later we reopen, the task of recovery becomes exponentially more difficult and there is the fear of being left behind in the momentum of recovery of all our trading partners.

However, we are totally perplexed and mystified with your statement that it is difficult to open vaccination centres in EMCO areas due to complications in supply delivery. There are several existing mega PPVs in EMCO areas and we believe delivery of vaccines have not been interrupted nor halted. Mosti is more than capable of adjusting the vaccine supplies accordingly, whether the PPVs are in EMCO areas or not, and have been doing so since the beginning of the programme.

EMCO is the ideal time to expeditiously vaccinate as many people as possible so as to be protected when the lockdown is lifted.

Now that more than 18 million doses are being delivered, we need to mobilise all resources to utilise all the vaccines and it should be the nation’s target to ensure that all 18 million doses are used within July itself ,especially with the people anxiously clamouring and clambering for vaccination and all PPVs are already successfully practising standby candidates, thus ensuring spare vaccines are fruitfully used up. That should be the planned target and with sincere and proper planning and concerted efforts, this is definitely doable and achievable.

We earnestly look forward to this to be carried out with utmost efficiency under your firm direction. – July 7, 2021.

This is a joint urgent appeal by the following associations:

• Persatuan Pengurusan Kompleks Malaysia (PPK) – Malaysia Shopping Malls Association
• Malaysia Retailers Association (MRA)
• Malaysia Retail Chain Association (MRCA)
• Bumiputra Retailers Organisation (BRO)
• Malaysia REIT Managers Association (MRMA)
• Malaysian Association of Theme Park and Family Attractions (MATFA)

* 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.