Annuar pleas for Kelantan folk to get vaccinated

 

Shocked by reports that nearly 10,000 Kelantanse folk have missed their Covid-19 vaccination appointments, Ketereh MP Annuar Musa made a heartfelt plea for people in the state to participate in the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme.

Contrasting with the situation at his home state, he said people in other states are scrambling for vaccines due to the slow roll-out of the vaccines.

“Some people in Selangor are willing to pay as much as RM300 or RM400 to get vaccinated. In Kuala Lumpur, many have contacted me to try to get vaccines.

“But I hear that nearly 10,000 people in Kelantan have been scheduled to get vaccinated but didn’t turn up for their appointments. I thought people were just speculating, so I asked the minister in charge of the vaccinations, and it turns out the news is true that many of our people, the people of Kelantan, did not go to their vaccine appointments.

“How did this come to be? Perhaps some were wary or afraid, or were there transportation problems to get vaccinated?” he said in video recording uploaded on his Facebook page last night.

Annuar, who is also the federal territories minister, said this in urging Kelantanese folk to get vaccinated, particularly those in his constituency of Keterah.

Earlier, Malaysiakini reported on that nearly 10,000 Kelantan residents, particularly senior citizens, are found to have missed their vaccine appointments as of Monday.

State Health Director Dr Zaini Hussin said among the reasons for missing the appointments is health problems, while others had to reschedule their appointments due to personal issues.

Yesterday, Zaini said many senior citizens also did not know how to check their appointments through the MySejahtera app.

Meanwhile, Annuar warned that the dangers of the Covid-19 pandemic are real.

“I wish to emphasise that the danger of Covid-19 is that sometimes there are no symptoms - until at one point and time - breathing becomes difficult and the situation becomes critical, which can lead to death.

“Speaking of death, it is true we will all die because it is God’s work, but the effort to fight disease is compulsory. So, the government has provided the vaccine for free. It's true that the cost would have been in the hundreds, but the government is bearing it all.

“So, I would like to take this opportunity to urge the people of Kelantan to get vaccinated since there are more and more cases. In my area in the Pauh Lima subdistrict, for example, 260 families have been locked down,” he said, speaking in the Kelantanese dialect throughout his video.

Annuar also urged people to abide with the government’s Covid-19 standard operating procedures, including restrictions on congregational prayers at mosques.

He said many Covid-19 cases have been linked to congregational prayers at mosques and suraus.

“So, I think Covid-19 is truly dangerous and not a lie. The Kuala Lumpur police chief has seen me and said a member of the police lost her father, mother, and brother within a week because of Covid-19.

“I’ve also heard news that some congregations had done tarawih prayers in large groups in the dark. Praying is good, but as the mufti had said, even the Prophet had told his companion who had eaten garlic not to go to the mosque out of concern that its odour would make other congregants uncomfortable.

“Going by that story, that is just garlic. What more with the situation now with the Covid-19 pandemic?” he said.

- Mkini