THE government has not taken any disciplinary action against 28,800 civil servants who have refused or are unable to take the Covid-19 vaccines, Dr Abdul Latiff Ahmad said. 

“Although the government had issued a circular on November 1 requiring all civil servants to be vaccinated, there are still 1.8% or 28,800 of the 1.6 million civil servants who are not yet vaccinated,” the minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Special Functions) told the Dewan Rakyat today.

“But 10 days later, there has been no disciplinary action taken against anyone yet,” the Mersing MP said. 

Latiff was responding to Chan Foong Hin (Kota Kinabalu-PH), who asked about the number of public servants who have refused or cannot take the Covid-19 vaccine. Chan also asked about the number of civil servants who have been subjected to disciplinary action. 

On the punishments, Latiff said there were processes to observe before disciplinary action can be taken. 

“The heads of department would have to issue show-cause letters and then the person would be given 21 days to respond. 

“If the response is unsatisfactory, the department will then have to call for a domestic inquiry before any disciplinary action can be taken,” said Latiff. 

Among the punishments that can be meted out, said Latiff, were withholding of promotion or raise, warning letters or suspension without pay. – November 10, 2021.