As Covid-19 forces care homes to close, MP demands Rina take action

 

The Women, Family and Community Development Ministry has been urged to act on the government's apparent policy of neglecting the elderly in care homes in the National Covid-19 vaccination programme.

In a statement today, Batu Kawan MP Kasthuri Patto (above) said three such facilities in Penang have been forced to close due to Covid-19 and there was a risk of further spread.

She warned that without intervention, Malaysia will risk the fate suffered by Italy, France, Spain, Britain and India where many died of Covid-19 while at elderly care facilities.

"As the minister and deputy minister helming one of the biggest ministries in the country, Rina Harun and Siti Zailah Mohd Yusoff must take the closure of old folks homes in Penang due to Covid-19 seriously and they must provide Malaysians who have parents or loved ones in old folks homes as well as the operators, on the next plan to vaccinate them, being the most vulnerable in our society.

"We must vow to do better, to rise above ourselves and to utilise all resources so we can move in the right direction together, and leave no one behind as we speed up our vaccination drives.

"Malaysians must know what the vaccination contingency for nursing homes or old folks homes is and when will it kick-off," she said.

Women, Family and Community Development Minister Rina Harun  

Kasthuri added that the responsibility in vaccinating the elderly must not fall on the Health Ministry alone, pointing to the fact that care homes are under the purview of Rina's ministry.

An association for care home operators has urged the government to show that it cares about the elderly, saying it is disappointed with the health ministry’s failure to administer vaccinations among elderly under care.

Kasthuri was referring to a statement by the Association for Residential Aged Care Operators of Malaysia head, Muntoh Fong, that people in old folks home were not being prioritised for vaccination.

"We also keep getting messages from the government for care centres to register the elderly for vaccinations. We have already complied but nothing has happened," he said.

Currently, the vaccination programme is in the second phase which prioritises the elderly and the frail.

However, the government briefly allowed those who do not fall in the at-risk category to opt-in for the AstraZeneca vaccine earlier this month. - Mkini