THERE could be “tens of thousands” of elderly folk who are yet to be vaccinated against Covid-19 even as nearly 70% of the adult population have received two doses, those working with the aged said.

They said many of the senior citizens who have not received their shots are in care homes which are not registered with the welfare authorities.

Covid-19 outbreaks remain a concern for nursing homes, several of which have been the source of virus clusters. 

Residents of homes are not inoculated because the home managers do not know how to register them for vaccination. The people running the homes also fear getting penalised for being unlicensed, said the Association for Residential Aged Care Operators of Malaysia (AgeCope).

Homes that are registered have mostly completed vaccinating their residents, association president Delren Terrence Douglas said.

He estimated there are 1,300 unregistered nursing homes. They could be registered as a business entity with the Companies Commission of Malaysia but not with the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry, he said.

If each home has 40 residents, this could mean about unvaccinated 50,000 senior citizens, Douglas said.

“Many unlicensed elderly home managers are worried they will be fined when the government officials pay them a visit even though Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin has promised that no action will be taken against them,” he told The Malaysian Insight.

However, there was a case in Ipoh where an unregistered nursing home owner was warned by local government officials that they would return to check on the homes registration status after vaccination of the residents was completed, he said.

“When the law enforcement unit has such an attitude, these homes become fearful. The news spreads and it discourages others.”

Douglas has set up a WhatsApp chat group for unregistered homes to share news and information.

Manu homes now do not allow visitors while those are admitted on to the premises have to be screened for Covid-19.

Relatives of the residents are discouraged from taking the residents for their jabs at the vaccination centres for fear of infection.

“We have asked the Health Ministry to arrange for on-site vaccination to minimise contact between the elderly inmates and the outside world,” said Douglas.

He said AgeCope has arranged to meet with Khairy to discuss vaccination at the nursing homes.

Douglas hoped the meeting would prove to be a chance to discuss the longstanding issue of unregistered homes.

He said the chief reasons for the homes being unregistered were lack of awareness of the law and failure to meet standards and regulations.

Overlooked

The 60 and above age group were among the first to be vaccinated in the second phase of the national immunisation programme which began in April.

But people in the care industry said despite the headstart, many in the category have fallen through the cracks.

Klang Municipal Council councillor Lee Fu Haw said there was a Covid outbreak in a nursing home in Klang with more than 20 residents, none of whom were vaccinated.

Fifteen residents died in three weeks as the hospitals were overwhelmed.

He said this one welfare home had not arranged for its residents to get shots while all other such homes in Klang had completed vaccination in July.

Other welfare homes in Klang that have experienced outbreaks include drug rehabilitation centre Disciple House even though most of the residents had received at least one dose of the vaccine.

Covid-19 clusters had also been detected in child care centres in Klang. Lee said he knew of two children with comorbidities who had died of infection.

Lee said welfare homes must act swiftly to get their residents vaccinated.

PKR women’s wing communications director Loh Ker Chean, meanwhile, said Women, Family and Community Development Ministry officials must not be focused on penalising unregistered elderly care homes.

“Will the government not protect the lives of the elderly because the homes are not registered? It must not only pay attention to those that are registered.”

She urged the officials to try to understand why these homes did not register or renew their permits.

She also proposed localised plans for vaccination and Covid-19 care for each state and constituency facing different issues.

“Why don’t the federal and state governments as well as MPs launch a plan for the individual constituencies?” – September 8, 2021.