WHILE Putrajaya aims to complete the public-private partnership Covid-19 industry immunisation programme (Pikas) by the end of the month, business leaders are complaining of delays in getting appointments for their workers.

Although 98% of the 900,000 workers in the manufacturing sector registered on the programme have received at least one dose of the vaccine, bosses and workers are impatient for full vaccination, especially with the virulent Delta virus strain in circulation.

Pikas, which is managed by the International Trade and Industry Ministry (Miti), has a lengthy approval process, SME Association of Malaysian Association vice-president Chin Chee Siong said.

Vaccine supply problems also lengthen the wait, he added, causing the workers who have registered on the programme to turn instead to the national immunisation programme (PICK) or private hospitals for their shots, the latter at their boss’ expense. 

Chin said the association had submitted to Miti a list of 10,000 people to be vaccinated under Pikas, which was launched in June. It only received a response after a month and by then many of the names on the list had gone to get their shots elsewhere.

“Miti asked us to provide information on the 10,000 employees, but the approval came only after a month, and by then many workers had already completed their first shot.”

He said such delays were a deterrent to companies who felt the programme was a waste of time.

Chin said it would be ideal if the first shot was administered within two weeks of the date of application.

But ministry officials replied that this was difficult because of vaccine supply.

Chin said association members outside Selangor, the country’s industrial hub, have also found it hard to arrange for on-site vaccination at their factories under Pikas. The programme offers the option of sending the workers to a vaccination centre (PPV) for their shots or to have shots delivered at the workplace for a minimum of 1,000 workers. 

Jerantut Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industries president Natalie Lim said the sole PPV serving Malaysia’s largest state of Pahang, under PICK, was in Kuantan.

This made it difficult for workers based in places such as  Bentong, she said. In addition to the two-hour travel time, there were also police roadblocks to get through because of movement restrictions, which also limited the number of people allowed in a vehicle.

Miti eventually heeded Lim’s complaints and sent a vaccination team to Jerantut.

Lim also highlighted a lack of cohesion between Pikas and the national standard operating procedure on the number of employees allowed to work on site based on the workers’ vaccination rate.

When the SOP was released, factories were permitted to operate at full capacity if 80% of the workers were vaccinated. Lim said because of that, employers had rushed to get their workers vaccinated at private healthcare facilities at their own expense. 

“By the time Pikas gave the applicants a date for vaccination, many of them had received their shots elsewhere,” she said.

She agreed with Chin that vaccine supply issues were part of the problem, noting that Pikas had approved the Jerantut chamber of commerce’s application for shots in early August but had told her that there was no vaccine supply at the time. 

It was not until earlier this month that the applicants had received their shots, she said.

Terengganu Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry vice-president Low Wan Cheong said he had grouped employees from different small industries around the state to qualify for Pikas’ on-site vaccination for a minimum of 1,000 workers.

He said progress was slow and advised employers to send their workers to the PPVs under PICK instead for their jabs. – September 11, 2021.