Sabah PKR Youth deputy chief Fahrid Arastam said as at March 27, the number of people who registered for vaccination was “still far too low”.

He added that although Sabah is eighth on the list of states with the most number of people registering – 323,556 have signed up so far – but in terms of percentage of population, the state has only seen a 11.03% take-up rate.

“Not even 12% of Sabahans have registered and this is disappointing,” he said, in a statement here today.

“We don’t want the people of Sabah in the interior to miss out on obtaining this vaccine.

“The government needs to beef up its efforts to track down those who have yet to sign up, especially those from rural and interior areas who do not have internet access.

“The government cannot depend on NGOs (non-governmental organisations) or other groups to carry out the registration drive.”

Fahrid said the government must find an initiative to carry out the drive through house-to-house visits, especially in remote locations.

According to the Covid-19 Vaccine Supply Access Guarantee Special Committee (JKJAV), the states with the lowest registrations after Sabah are Kelantan (17.05%), Terengganu (23.04%), Pahang (23.68%) and Kedah (24.01%).

JKJAV said Putrajaya has the highest take-up rate for the vaccine with 82.2%, followed by Kuala Lumpur (41.02%), Selangor (40.87%), Penang (36.45%) and Negeri Sembilan (35.54%).

Previously, DAP’s Kapayan assemblyman Jannie Lasimbang had also expressed her concern with the low numbers, saying the lack of internet coverage, especially in rural and suburban areas could be a reason behind this, as the main platform to register is through the MySejahtera app.

“The government must consider other ways, aside from online registration or applications in person,” she said.

She added the state government and the health ministry should also put more effort in creating awareness to allay fears about the vaccine.

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