CITF, Selangkah resolving sudden vaccine appointment changes

 

The Covid-19 Immunisation Task Force (CITF) and Selangor’s Selangkah initiative are working to resolve complaints that some people have got appointments for AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine without applying for it.

This included cases where people who have already received appointments for a Pfizer or Sinovac had their appointments changed to receive the AstraZeneca vaccine at a later date.

In a statement today, the CITF said its preliminary investigations found that some quarters have booked appointments for the AstraZeneca vaccine on behalf of large numbers of people, without their prior consent to receive that particular vaccine.

These bookings were found to have been made through a handful of the same internet protocol (IP) addresses.

The CITF said it has contacted one such party, Selangkah, which informed that they had indeed registered people to receive the AstraZeneca vaccine without first asking whether they want the vaccine or whether they already have an appointment.

“Selangkah has informed that they have booked AstraZeneca slots without first checking whether individuals in its ImuniSel database had agreed to receive the AstraZeneca vaccine, thus it replaced their earlier appointments if they already have one.

“Selangkah has assured its cooperation with CITF to resolve this issue and ensure that individuals involved get their original appointments.

“The problems that arise will be overcome as best as possible and CITF will cooperate with various parties to ensure more people will get vaccinated and herd immunity can be achieved,” the CITF said in a statement today.

ImuniSel is a vaccine outreach programme under the Selangor government to help residents in the state register for the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme, particularly those with limited access to digital devices and services, or who have poor IT literacy.

Ahead of the second round of registrations for the AstraZeneca opt-in programme, Selangor Task Force for Covid-19 member Dr Helmi Zakariah was calling for volunteers to help 5,000 senior citizens who are not tech-savvy to register for the vaccine.

Moving forward, the AstraZeneca vaccines will be incorporated in the mainstream vaccination programme, but prospective vaccine recipients will be allowed to choose the vaccines they wish to receive.

Yesterday, Malaysiakini reported that some people had their Covid-19 vaccine appointments suddenly postponed without explanation, sometimes at the last minute.

Some cases involved people with appointments in the mainstream vaccination programme changed to an appointment to receive the AstraZeneca vaccine, even though the vaccine is available through opt-in registrations.

The government had originally made the AstraZeneca available through opt-in only due to public concerns over exceedingly rare but potentially life-threatening risks of blood clots associated with the vaccine, which threatened to undermine the rest of the vaccination programme.

The decision to bring it back into the mainstream programme was made after the vaccine gained public acceptance, with nearly a million appointment slots snapped up in about an hour on Wednesday, despite technical difficulties. - FMT