Nitthiya Prakkash, 21, and his mother, who lives in SS2, waited in line at MPBJ since 6.30am to get a vaccination slot. However, they were told to come back again the next day as the centre had run out of vaccines for walk-ins.
“My mother and I came yesterday at 9am for a walk-in vaccination but couldn’t get a slot. We decided to come even earlier today at 6.30am but failed again after waiting for three hours,” he said.
Nitthiya’s mother said she could not even head to the restroom as she feared losing her spot, and that they would return at 4am tomorrow to try their luck again.
A mother and daughter duo, who only wanted to be known as Jaclyn and Michiko, said they were lucky enough to get a slot today despite also waiting in line since 6.30am.
“We’ve been in line for almost four hours under the hot sun and even under slight rain. The lines were so long that people could not hear the announcement that the quota for vaccination had closed by 9.30am. So, they continued queueing,” Jaclyn said.
Jaclyn, who was waiting for her first dose, said it was also concerning as there were so many senior citizens, pregnant mothers and persons with disabilities (OKU) among the crowd.
She said better planning was necessary for the public, especially for walk-ins, because it was unfair that they did not receive notifications on their MySejahtera application and still had to wait in line for hours.
Bukit Gasing assemblyman Rajiv Rishyakaran, who was at the vaccination centre, said residents in his constituency had raised concerns about this issue and were afraid that the overcrowding might trigger an outbreak.
He urged the government to decentralise the vaccination process and reinstate all general practitioners (GPs) who want to administer the vaccine.
“Since yesterday, the government has reduced the number of PPVs to only 13 locations in the Klang Valley. The recent move to stop vaccinations by private GPs has also increased traffic in all these 13 PPVs,” he said.
He said he has been calling for all GPs to be allowed to administer vaccines so people would not have to travel far to receive their shots.
“Allowing 300 GPs to freely operate means the residents do not have to queue for hours to obtain a shot,” he said.
Rajiv said decentralising the vaccination process meant undocumented migrant workers would feel safer as they only had to walk into a clinic that they already go to for their medical needs.
“In our goal to get everyone vaccinated, let’s make it convenient for the public to get their jabs so the country can reach herd immunity faster,” he said.
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