KJ denies RM70m for vaccine appointment system excessive

 

National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme (Pick) coordinating minister Khairy Jamaluddin denied that the RM70 million set aside for the programme’s data integration and appointment system is excessive.

He reiterated that the sum is merely the maximum spending approved by the Finance Ministry and is not the final cost.

In addition, he said the vaccination programme is the largest ever conducted in the country and would involve 26.5 million vaccine recipients, which is 80 percent of Malaysia’s population.

“Pick will be conducted all year long and certainly needs sufficient allocation to ensure its smooth implementation.

“Therefore, there is no issue of the allocation being imprudent,” he said in a statement today.

This came after Khairy laid out yesterday how the RM5 billion budget for Pick would be spent. One item that raised netizens’ eyebrows was the RM70 million for the data integration and appointment system.

RM5 billion allocation for National Covid-19 Immunisation Program
Infogram

In his explanation today, Khairy said the RM70 billion allocation for data integration and appointment system covers 13 items.

It involves the integration and development of interface systems to facilitate the registration of vaccine recipients and the monitoring of vaccine supplies at each vaccine dispensing centre (PPV).

The 13 items are:

1. Management and progress monitoring of Pick.
2. Development of daily reporting dashboard for Pick.
3. Integrating MySejahtera’s database with the Health Ministry’s existing pharmacy system.
4. The development of chatbots.
5. The development of a website for vaccine registration.
6. MySejahtera systems for detecting registration and vaccination, as well as integration with Google Map services.
7. Development and genomic surveillance and immunisation surveillance systems.
8. Procurement of mobile queue management systems for PPVs.
9. Integration of digital passport system for MySejahtera.
10. Management system for vaccine logistics and delivery network.
11. Handling of call centres based at the Covid-19 Immunisation Task Force.
12. Mobilisation management system for Malaysian Vaccine Support Volunteers (MyVac).
13. Between five and ten vaccine appointment reminders per person via phone calls and SMS. - mkini