Yesterday, Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin proposed setting a registration deadline of June due to the relatively low registration rates for the national immunisation programme.

Calling the proposal a “poor one”, Kula said it did not take into account the lack of information about the vaccination process, especially for those living in rural areas, the marginalised and the B40 community.

“Although I agree that the vaccination process cannot continue forever, June is an unrealistic deadline to set and a bad idea,” he said, adding that many Malaysians still do not have access to the internet or smartphones.

According to Kula, having a deadline that is just three months away may be good for those living in the cities but “completely unfair to those in rural areas”.

“There are some people in cities who are still unsure if they should take the vaccine due to the spread of false information, and it goes to show that the government still has a huge task ahead to convince them.”

Meanwhile, Kula paid a visit to the Ipoh wet market today, where he launched a vaccine registration drive.

The effort saw more than than 50 people register for their jabs via the MySejahtera app, but he noted that many people had not registered simply because they did not know to do so.

“Others had also expressed their concern about the possible side effects of taking the vaccine,” he said.

During a town hall session yesterday, Muhyiddin said only around six million people had registered for the vaccine through the MySejahtera app so far, adding that setting the end of June as the deadline would help ensure the immunisation programme be carried out efficiently.

The prime minister added that more than 400,000 frontliners have been vaccinated so far, with the government targeting 80% of the population to be vaccinated by next February to achieve herd immunity.

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