Its president, Dr Subramaniam Muniandy, made this call considering that over 50% of the country’s population had received at least one dose of the vaccine so far.
Subramaniam said now that vaccinations had picked up, the Covid-19 immunisation task force (CITF) should phase out the mega vaccination centres and allow the GPs to run the final lap of the programme.
At the same time, the government can strengthen its resources at public healthcare facilities, he added.
“Most people find it more convenient to go to a GP for their vaccinations as the private clinics are close to the community and are not crowded,” he said in a statement today.
“It is also the preferred choice of the people because of the personalised service. CITF should be increasing and not limiting the involvement of the private GPs in this phase of the immunisation programme.”
Subramaniam was also puzzled as to why CITF suddenly decided to stop vaccination appointments at 741 private GP clinics, several private hospitals and ambulatory care centres in Selangor.
He said these healthcare facilities were given 48-hour notices by CITF.
“CITF should instead be encouraging more GPs to participate. There are 741 private clinics in the Klang Valley participating in the immunisation programme (250 in KL and 491 in Selangor).
“Such policies in dumping GPs suddenly when not needed will not augur well and (will) discourage other GPs from participating.”
He added that CITF should also tweak the AstraZeneca vaccination booking system to allow the public to choose their preferred clinics.
“Each clinic may have its own vaccination capacity. With such a system, implementation and appointments will be made easier and better coordinated.
“Vaccinations for those aged 12 to 17 are only three weeks away. If the GPs are going to be roped in, as the health director-general has indicated, it needs to be planned now,” he said.
Rationale
The Federation of Private Medical Practitioners’ Associations Malaysia (FPMPAM) also questioned the health ministry on how stopping vaccinations at private GP clinics would benefit the rakyat.
In a statement, FPMPAM president Dr Steven Chow said it was also pertinent to ask why doctors and their patients had to “endure this inconvenience” when it was the original intention of the government to co-opt the GPs into the national immunisation programme for greater efficiency and the convenience of the rakyat.
“The health ministry has a very myopic view in this matter,” he said.
“It would not be long before they reactivate and re-escalate the vaccination system for the booster dose as the post-vaccine surge sets upon us,” he said, adding that this was in line with the current scenario in other countries.
Klang MP Charles Santiago also weighed in on the matter, questioning why five of the six vaccination centres in Klang had now been ordered to close as CITF said 90% of Klang’s adult population had received their first dose.
Santiago said that while CITF said only 79,631 adults in Klang had yet to receive their first dose of vaccines, the “on-the-ground reality” was much higher, with the MP estimating the figure to be 453,318.
Noting the increasing number of total Covid-19 infections in Klang, from 10,981 cases between May 20 and June 20 to 49,697 cases in the July 21-Aug 20 period, Santiago said the rationale for these closures was “highly questionable” and “clearly not based on public health measures, science or data”.
“Decisions should be made in consultation with local stakeholders for better outcomes,” he said in a statement.
“It appears that the positions of the science, technology and innovation ministry and health ministry are on a collision course detrimental to public health.”
He said this could prevent achieving the true and actual 90% vaccination rate and lessening the workload on hospitals.