They said many of these migrants had low literacy levels and needed a proper explanation before the government could succeed in achieving its aim of developing herd immunity among the people.
Public health medicine expert Dr Mohammad Farhan Rusli said other countries have come up with Covid-19 advocacy in various languages, while Malaysia’s official website on vaccines was only in one language.
“If you want to reach out to these migrants, there needs to be effective risk communication.
“Putting them aside will not solve the problem,” he said during an online forum titled “Covid-19: Seeking solutions for foreign workers” hosted by G25 Malaysia today.
As of 2019, the number of immigrants in Malaysia was estimated at 3.43 million, many of them undocumented migrants.
Public health consultant Dr Yap Wei Aun said the government’s move to vaccinate foreigners, regardless of their legal status, was commendable but more has to be done to ensure they have equal access to healthcare so that the Covid-19 curve is flattened.
He said more needs to be done to educate foreigners on the efficacy of the vaccines being rolled out.
He said 37% of foreigners in the country had been infected with Covid-19 and 11% of that had died.
He warned that excluding certain populations, thinking they were “undeserving”, had resulted in the polio outbreak in Sabah. “This cost us more money and hardship in the end.”
North-South Initiative’s Adrian Pereira underscored the need for the government to keep to its promise that there would be no enforcement action against undocumented migrants who stepped forward to get their jabs.
He said there was a gross misunderstanding of health and security issues, made worse when Malaysia deported more than 1,000 migrants back to Myanmar earlier this week.
“An enforcement moratorium for the whole period of vaccination is key to getting more migrants to go along,” he said.
Pereira said that while the government saw these migrants as a “security concern”, most were part of the workforce and paid taxes via immigration levies and consumption taxes.
He said that to instil further confidence, migrant leaders had to be roped in.
“These leaders will explain to you the cultural communication competencies that are missing in our health system.
“Diaspora groups, who have become Malaysian citizens, can help bridge the trust deficit in this vaccine rollout.
“The authorities must understand that no one is safe until all are safe.”
The forum was moderated by G25’s Adeeba Kamarulzaman. Karex Bhd’s group chief executive Goh Miah Kiat also joined in the discussions.
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