A video posted on Twitter by Tokyo-based journalist Natsuko Fukue showed a team of medical staff at a vaccination centre in Fukuoka, Japan, going from one elderly person to another to vaccinate them – while the vaccine recipients stayed seated on their chairs.
The accompanying caption said the team can “smoothly and effectively” vaccinate 120 people an hour, which Fukue said was “eight times faster than before”.
Speaking to FMT, MMA president Dr Subramaniam Muniandy said the Covid-19 vaccine supply access guarantee special committee (JKJAV) should consider implementing such a system, especially for senior citizens and those with special needs.
“It limits the movement of people from one place to another. Therefore, there will be better crowd control and it is also more convenient,” he said.
“I think JKJAV should give it some thought for implementation, especially at the larger vaccination centres,” he added.
Subramaniam said engagement on the ground would be needed before such a programme is implemented, stressing that the team giving out the vaccines must be consulted before any decision is made.
Social media users have regularly taken to platforms such as Twitter to vent their frustrations about the queues at vaccination centres, with FMT previously reporting about such queues at Stadium Titiwangsa, where lines snaking around the stadium left recipients wondering where to begin queueing.
Netizens have also related how senior citizens have had to stand for hours in long queues as no chairs were available for those waiting their turn, with some seniors even forced to sit on the floor.
Speaking at a press conference in Penang earlier today, vaccine minister Khairy Jamaluddin said Malaysia had administered 3.5 million doses to date and is on schedule to hit its target of 150,000 shots a day this month and 200,000 next month. He added that the current dose rate per day reached 105,655 yesterday.
The vaccination at Umi, a town in Fukuoka, is done smoothly and effectively with a doctor & his team moving while elderly residents sit and wait. They can give shots to 120 people in an hour, 8 times faster than before pic.twitter.com/gko9G10qSI
— Natsuko Fukue (@natfukue) June 2, 2021