A house call hotline will be set up for those who are bedridden and unable to travel out to be vaccinated for Covid-19.
A separate hotline and e-mail address will also be created for seniors and persons with disabilities (PWDs) who have yet to be inoculated against Covid-19.
This is according to Covid-19 Immunisation Task Force (CITF) member Dr Jemilah Mahmood.
Speaking to the media today, she explained how bedridden patients can be registered for house call vaccinations.
“If there is anyone bedridden at home, you can actually contact your nearest healthcare centre to submit details of the bedridden person.
“We also want to establish some kind of hotline and e-mail so people can send us details and we can come to their homes (to vaccinate them),” she said.
Jemilah said that all Klinik Kesihatan were already compiling a list of bedridden people based on the government’s database.
The house call hotline and list are to facilitate a new NGO-led mobile vaccination programme.
It is a collaboration between the Health Ministry, the ministry’s GLC ProtectHealth Corporation Sdn Bhd and the Malaysian Humanitarian Coordination and Action Hub (Match).
Pilot programme launched
Match is run by Khazanah’s Yayasan Hasanah and the Malaysian Red Crescent Society.
The pilot programme will see them working with the Social Welfare Department and other NGOs to send mobile vaccination teams to homes in Selangor identified as having bedridden patients.
Both patients and any unvaccinated members of the same household would then be immunised.
Earlier this morning, Jemilah launched the pilot programme by personally administering a Pfizer-BioNTech jab to 94-year-old Yah Kawi at the latter’s home in Lembah Jaya, Ampang.
Bedridden since a year ago, her caretaker and granddaughter Noriaini Mohd Ramli said she was glad she did not have to worry anymore about getting her grandmother immunised.
“I received a call from the Social Welfare Department three days ago for this appointment. They came so quickly. We barely had to wait. My grandmother is very old and I have run out of solutions (on how to get her vaccinated),” she told the media.
Hotline for those left behind
Jemilah also shared that the government will be setting up a communication channel for those seemingly “left out” by the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme (NIP).
“I had a meeting with (CITF member) Khairy Jamaluddin yesterday about how some on social media are saying their parents have yet to receive the vaccine.
“This is worrying for us because we use a database. And when we sweep the database, a majority has already received it. There are a few isolated cases.
“Yesterday we discussed how maybe we will have a special hotline or email for people who ate left behind so they can reach out and we can immunise them. We understand they are worried about being left behind,” she said.
Yesterday, Khairy disclosed that 604,152 registered senior citizens (21 percent) were still waiting for their first dose. This means the NIP has fallen short of the minister’s June 20 promise for registered senior citizens to get their appointments within a fortnight.
Also far behind are those in the PWD category, with only 127,775 or 39 percent vaccinated. Phase 2 of the NIP is for senior citizens, PWDs and people with comorbidities.
Seven states and territories have already moved on to Phase 3 of the NIP, which involves recipients under the age of 60. Also underway is Phase 4 which involves companies paying to have employees vaccinated. - Mkini
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