The veteran politician said vaccination centres should be “right-sized” and down to the district level, with multi-purpose halls used for the purpose, in order to better manage those who wish to be vaccinated.
She said these centres should only cater to residents in the district, adding that this would make it easier for record-keeping and traceability.
Rafidah also said this would prevent the unintended possibility of “vaccination centre Covid-19 clusters” caused by the massive crowds at mega vaccination centres, many of whom line up for hours before being given their jabs.
“We don’t need a mega RM70 million IT system set up when there is a common sense approach that could be taken. Appointments would be more meaningful and the people do not have to cross borders to go to a mega centre.
“The data collected at these district centres can then be collated by the district health offices, then escalated to the state health departments for analysis and transmission to the health ministry,” she told FMT.
She also questioned why health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah was not a member of the Covid-19 immunisation task force (CITF), when public healthcare infrastructure is required for the roll-out of the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme.
She said Malaysia could not afford to waste any more time or money by doing things on a “mega-scale” and called for the government to be realistic and effective, as time was of the essence.
“There is no time for politicking and mega approaches. The vaccines must go to the rakyat, not vice versa. We need to have a sensible roll-out at the grassroots level,” she said.
Earlier today, vaccination minister Khairy Jamaluddin announced that five new mega vaccination centres would be opened in the Klang Valley, apart from the one at the Malaysia International Trade and Exhibition Centre (Mitec).
They will be located at the Mines International Exhibition & Convention Centre, Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) and the Setia City Convention Centre in Selangor, as well as the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre and Stadium Negara in KL.
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