Colin Nicholas of the Centre for Orang Asli Concerns (COAC) alleged that the Orang Asli were being misled by fake news and other forms of misinformation spread by Orang Asli influencers and opinion leaders.
Saying this would make it difficult to persuade them to get inoculated, he called for the delivery of clear, accurate and simple messages to the Orang Asli.
Nicholas also said it was a myth that the typical Orang Asli was an anti-vaxxer.
“In fact, they religiously follow the vaccination schedules for their newborns as directed by health personnel,” he said.
“There is just a lot of information going out about the Covid-19 vaccines. The accurate messages are very technical and difficult for them to appreciate. The ones that can get traction are the alarmist ones.
“For example, there is some news about people dying after receiving a vaccine. But they don’t understand the context, that it’s two persons out of 100,000, for example.”
He alleged that some of the people who could influence them, such as community leaders and local officials, were anti-vaxxers.
Nicholas then cited some fake news about the government wanting to use Orang Asli as test subjects for Covid-19 vaccines, saying it originated in an opinion piece that was published by an online news portal.
The article said the Orang Asli should be vaccinated first because they were among the most vulnerable to infection.
Nicholas noted that it had always been made clear that frontliners would be the first to be vaccinated, but, he said, this was not explained to the Orang Asli.
He urged the government to educate Orang Asli influencers and opinion leaders so that they could disseminate accurate information.
Another activist, Tijah Yok Chopil of the Semai community, said many Orang Asli were worried because they did not know where the vaccines were coming from and what they contained.
“There needs to be awareness campaigns tailored to the different Orang Asli communities in their own languages,” she said.
Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Khairy Jamaluddin recently said civic groups would need to help the government educate people in Orang Asli villages and other interior areas about the Covid-19 vaccines.
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