Single-dose vaccines would be best for them, said Peggy Hoo of Taylor’s University’s health and medical sciences faculty. She has worked with the Orang Asli communities around Slim River.
She said the vaccination would be mainly for their own protection since many of them are isolated from the main population.
“But some of them do mingle with outsiders in making a living, working in vegetable farms or oil palm plantations.
“Also, middlemen go into their villages to collect produce such as rubber latex.
“So as long as they come into contact with outsiders, they are at risk of contracting the virus.”
She said it would be disastrous if a cluster were to develop in any of their villages.
Hoo said most government resources were, at present, probably going towards vaccinating groups in densely-populated areas where transmission rates are high.
“The Orang Asli, who make up a small percentage of the population living in remote areas, tend to be overlooked as a result.”
She said the government must convince their Tok Batins to accept the vaccinations since they usually are community opinion leaders.
She added that these village heads must therefore be educated on the role of vaccines in preventing severe disease, hospitalisation and death.
“We have to create awareness among this group of vulnerable people,” she said. “Generally, the Orang Asli are receptive to health advice because they want to stay healthy.
“NGOs, social groups, and even students who are pursuing health science programmes could be engaged to create awareness.”
Feedback gained by counting registration forms received in the national Covid-19 immunisation programme shows that 63,734 Orang Asli have yet to register.
Of the 79,041 who have returned their forms, only 15,307 have agreed to be vaccinated, according to deputy rural development minister Abdul Rahman Mohamad.
Activists have told FMT that vaccine hesitancy was mainly due to misinformation being spread through community Whatsapp groups. The messages warn that vaccination could lead to illness, paralysis, comas and death.