Kota Kinabalu, 5 April 2021: Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) Youth is worried that Covid-19 Vaccine registration in Sabah is still the lowest in Malaysia.
Its vice chairman Dexter Chin said according to the report by Special Committee on Covid-19 Vaccine Supply Access Guarantee (JKJAV), as of yesterday, only 12.40% of Sabah’s population (362,514 people) have registered to participate in the vaccination program, which is less than half of the national average of 32.60%. The response in Sabah is extremely slow.
“Except for Kelantan (19.70%), the registration population rate of vaccination program in all other states in the country exceeds 20% of the respective population, ranging from 26.20% to 89.20%, with an average of 32.60%.
“According to preliminary analysis, there are three possible factors for people in Sabah not to register to participate in the COVID-19 vaccination program: 1) The lack of network connections, 2) Indifference, and 3) Peer pressure.
“Undeniably, many rural areas and suburbs in Sabah have poor network connections and may face difficulties getting online to use the MySejahtera app for registration. But, surprisingly, in Sarawak, which is similar and less populous as Sabah, recorded 31% of the population (642,041) registered.
“Another possibility is that, people in Sabah are seeing as the number of new cases of COVID-19 positive declining every day, they have begun to relax their preparedness to fight the pandemic and wrongly believe that vaccines are not necessary. However, this is not the case. If Sabah opened its border while most of the people are not being vaccinated, I am afraid that another wave of pandemic may break out. The perception and acceptance of information about the COVID-19 vaccine by Sabah people may seem to be different from that of other regions and states in the country,” he reasoned.
“Although Sabah’s COVID-19 spokesman Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun on 19 February stated no reports of an “anti-vaxxer movement” in the state, it is feared that there may still be some groups exerting peer pressure on those who held different views about the vaccines.
“I noticed some members of social media groups withdrew or were kicked out of the group just because they commented differently about the topic of “whether we should be vaccinated?” The psychological pressure exerted by these ‘peers’ seems to have become one of the reasons for resisting participation in the national vaccination programme,” according to Dexter.
In any case, SAPP Youth urges Sabahans to use the MySejahtera app or login this website (https://www.vaksincovid.gov.my/daftar_vaksin.html) or call 1800-888-828 to register as soon as possible.
“To combat the pandemic and stop the spread of the virus, there are two approaches, i.e. herd immunity and blockade measures. Since the outbreak of the epidemic last year, our government has adopted various levels of lockdown measures, including the implementation of movement control orders (MCO) and preventive guidelines (SOP). With the availability of vaccines, the country is expected to gradually get out of the “lockdown” through herd immunity,” he said.