Volunteers accused of 'selling vaccination appointments', CITF lodges report

 

Some volunteers at a vaccination centre in Sabah are accused of selling appointment slots for those wanting to jump the queue.

According to a source, these volunteers, sourced from the state-coordinated Malaysian Vaccine Support Volunteers (MyVAC), were charging RM100 per person for a back-door channel to the vaccines.

In at least two cases, the volunteers had slipped names at the top of the vaccine centre's waitlist, maintained in the event of a no-show, the source alleged.

When someone who was scheduled to attend that day did not show up, those listed on the informal waitlist will be contacted by the vaccination staff to take up the vaccines instead, and the volunteers will be paid RM100 by the recipients.

When contacted, MyVAC said it is investigating the matter while the Covid-19 Immunisation Task Force (CITF) said police reports have been lodged over private sales of vaccines.

Informal waitlists at vaccine centres

Malaysiakini cannot independently verify the Sabah claim but confirmed that many vaccination centres across the nation maintain informal waitlists in anticipation of no-shows.

This is because all vaccines in a vial must be used once opened. Each vial of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines, for example, contains six doses.

Many vaccine centres have tried to overcome the issue by allowing those living or working nearby to leave their contact details to be called up when there are no-shows.

Vaccination centres have reported regular no-shows, with absent recipients citing various reasons including being offered an appointment at the last minute or being unaware because no notification was received via MySejahtera or other means.

Many centres prioritise those on the waitlist who are in Phase 2, that is, the elderly, disabled, or those with comorbidities, or offer it to those who had accompanied their dependents for vaccination.

However, some Phase 3 recipients told Malaysiakini they managed to get vaccinated after leaving their contact details at a vaccination centre.

In some instances, it is learnt that vaccination centre staff will ring up nearby businesses or GP clinics to ask if the staff on duty that day can come in as soon as possible to get vaccinated.

This was the experience of former Pandan MP Rafizi Ramli, who took to Twitter to share that he and his wife were vaccinated after a vaccination centre near his office called him to ask if he can come in to get the jab, to fill in for absent recipients.

But experiences on the ground run counter to what the government says is standard practice.

In a press conference earlier this year, minister in charge of the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme (NIP), Khairy Jamaluddin, said waitlists are provided to vaccination centres by CITF, and centres cannot take walk-in registrations for waitlists.

CITF: Vaccine appointments not for sale

Contacted over the Sabah claims, CITF said it has on June 14 and 22 lodged two police reports over allegations of private vaccine sales.

"The CITF would like to stress that no vaccines or vaccine appointments can be sold.

"The vaccines are free for all Malaysian residents under the NIP," it said.

It also urged anyone with information of sales of vaccine or vaccine appointments to report the matter to the police.

Police yesterday arrested three individuals for allegedly charging RM420 for two doses of the vaccines, with payment to be made after the vaccination was done.

More than 4.7 million people in Malaysia have received at least one dose of the Covid-19 vaccines, while 1.8 million have received both doses.

On Monday, Khairy said some 930,087, or one-third of registered senior citizens, are still waiting for vaccines with about 253,719 to receive their first dose this week.

Yesterday, Women, Family, and Community Development Minister Rina Harun said about 19,000 out of 280,000, or seven percent of people with disabilities who signed up for the vaccine, have been vaccinated.

Combined, this indicates that at least a million people in Phase 2 nationwide may be still waiting for their vaccines. - Mkini