Incidents of the MySejahtera app pushing back vaccination appointments without reason, some at the last minute, have caused confusion and frustration among Malaysians, especially those whose elderly parents were affected.
A nurse at a private hospital in Malacca, who wanted to be known as Sharon, said she was looking forward to bringing her 80-year-old father for his Covid-19 vaccine appointment.
She said she received a text message last Friday (May 21) reminding her about the Monday (May 24) appointment at the Dewan Tun Ali vaccine distribution centre (PPV) in Bukit Katil.
She later realised MySejahtera displayed a different date and venue from what was stated before, with the new date being May 25.
Confused, Sharon tried seeking clarification about the sudden change by calling the MySejahtera hotline over the weekend but no one picked up, she said.
“I thought that if we missed the appointment, we might need to arrange for this all over again and who knows when the next appointment will be.
“So we still went to Dewan Tun Ali on May 24,” she told Malaysiakini when contacted.
However, when they got there, her father could not get his jab and was told to get it on the new date instead.
“This was very inconvenient because I work and I took leave for this. A sudden change like this was very inconvenient,” she said.
After chatting with other seniors who were also turned away like her father was at the centre, Sharon suspects they also had their appointments changed without advance notice.
Her father eventually made it to his May 25 appointment after her husband took leave from work to bring him to the Dewan Hang Tuah PPV in Kota Melaka.
He also had to bring along Sharon’s phone as she helped register her father for the vaccine using her phone.
On Facebook, Theresa Tan posted on Kepong MP Lim Lip Eng’s page about bringing her octogenarian father to his appointment earlier today (May 27), only to be informed at the centre that it was postponed to June 3.
“I always think we need to be considerate of the frontliners and those who work hard to flatten the curve, but today, I was really angry.
“My dad, an 80-plus-year-old man, already took his full courage to enrol himself for the vaccine.
“We personally double, triple confirmed with the said clinic on the appointment. Yesterday, my dad even received an SMS from the Covid-19 Immunisation Task Force (CITF) to remind him of his vaccination appointment,” Tan said.
However, when she brought her father to the clinic for his vaccination appointment at 1pm today, they were told that her father cannot be vaccinated as his name was not on a list.
“His appointment had been changed and rescheduled as MySejahtera refreshed the name list this morning at 9.30am.
“My dad never goes out and he follows the SOPs closely. To prepare him and to bring him out (for his vaccination appointment), we took the risk and exposed him,” she said.
Tan also noted that there was another elderly woman at the vaccination centre who had the same experience as them when they were there.
Sharon and Tan are far from the only ones whose parents’ vaccination appointments were suddenly rescheduled.
Twitter user Hazmira Almaz said her 62-year-old mother’s appointment for the AstraZeneca vaccine today at the World Trade Centre Kuala Lumpur (WTCKL) was suddenly changed to July 11 at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM).
Similarly, her father’s appointment was also changed from June 6 to June 11.
“This is unacceptable and I demand their original dates be reinstated.
“We have registered a month prior and what is your justification for changing their dates,” she questioned.
In her tweet, Hazmira tagged the Twitter accounts of the Special Committee on Covid-19 Vaccine Supply (JKJAV), MySejahtera, as well as Science, Technology, and Innovation Minister Khairy Jamaluddin.
She said her mother also received reminders yesterday on the MySejahtera app about her appointment today.
“(My mother) already prepared what clothes to wear, planned her transportation, and she was so excited, but suddenly it was postponed,” she said.
Hazmira later said Mohd Ghows Azzam, Khairy’s science advisor, reached out to her about this issue.
“Apparently, ‘someone’ had re-registered my mother to a new date, which is odd because none of us did,” she said.
However, she said her mother eventually got her vaccination today after she went to WTCKL and proved her original appointment date with a screenshot photo.
Claims of seniors given AZ slots despite never registering
Others on Twitter also highlighted incidents where their parents or grandparents, who already received their appointments as part of the National Covid-19 Immunisation Program (NIP), were suddenly rescheduled to AstraZeneca vaccination slots.
The NIP is currently in Phase Two when senior citizens are supposed to be getting their vaccine jabs. Phase One was held earlier this year when medical frontliners were supposed to have gotten theirs.
The AstraZeneca shots are being given to those who voluntarily register and is separate from the NIP.
Twitter user Cheryl Lim questioned why her friend’s father had his appointment on May 28 at the MSU Medical Centre rescheduled for an AstraZeneca vaccination slot at the Ideal Convention Centre Shah Alam on July 27, when they never applied for the opt-in AstraZeneca vaccination programme.
Several users replied to her tweet with similar stories. One said their grandmother’s appointment at a nearby clinic on May 29 was suddenly pushed to June 22 at a place much further from their house.
Another Twitter user said their grandmother, whose regular oncologist had cleared her for the Pfizer vaccine due to her medical history, was given an AstraZeneca slot despite never registering for it.
“Do we ignore this or proceed? Please advise,” the Twitter user asked, tagging JKJAV in the tweet.
Meanwhile, one officer stationed at a PPV estimated that up to 200 people were turned away over two days, all because they were unaware their appointment details had been changed.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, Tom, not their real name, said they met many frustrated working adults with their elderly parents.
“Most of them have a screenshot of their earlier appointment place and time so we knew they were not at fault.
“So when they reached here and they found out (the slot was) changed, they were quite frustrated especially (when) their children took leave from their busy schedule (to bring them to the PPV).
“Some children mentioned they spent a hard time convincing their parents (to take the vaccine) and when this happened, it could hamper their motivation to get vaccinated,” Tom told Malaysiakini.
The PPV officer said one person from Kuala Lumpur, a different district from the vaccination centre, had to apply for a police permit.
However, the person had to "redo everything" since the appointment was changed to a different date.
Tom hoped that advance and clear notices could be given to people so this does not continue to happen.
Malaysiakini has contacted the Science, Technology, and Innovation Ministry for comment. - Mkini
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