| Cover Story |
AUGUST , 2021 | THE HEALTH
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Daily vaccine doses .
There is no way to exit this pandemic aside from vaccinating as fast as possible . We are now looking at the pathway that Covid-19 will end up as endemic , just like the flu it might not go away .”— Dr Anas
surpass the UK on June 21 . The country had administered 0.60 doses per 100 people on average against 0.55 in the UK . And by July 9 , Malaysia had on average administered 0.96 doses per 100 people .
As of July 12 , Malaysia had on average administered 1.09 doses per 100 people . The total number of vaccine doses administered nationwide is 8.10 million doses , which is about 25 per cent of the population .
It was by no means an easy task . Fully manned vaccinations centres ( PPVs ) had to be opened fairly quickly , and the supply of vaccines assured . Private medical practitioners ( PMPs ) such as hospitals and clinics were also roped into the programme .
The acceleration in the vaccination rate is partly due to the successful integration of PMPs in the NIP by ProtectHealth and leadership by CITF and MoH .
Anas also said the vaccine inoculation was being accelerated in Selangor and the Greater Klang Valley . This is to achieve 80 per cent of its population being inoculated as early as September or October .
“ Overall , our utilisation rate is more than 90 per cent , meaning that all the vaccines that are in the fridge are being used . The stock and the capacity of the vaccine for utilisation is as good as every four or five days . Within those days , all our PPV facilities are demanding more vaccines .
“ There is no way to exit this pandemic aside from vaccinating as fast as possible . We are now looking at the pathway that Covid-19 will end up as endemic , just like the flu it might not go away ” — The Health programme , we need to know how many GPs we need in each State .
Next was to build a proprietary system to link all PMPs registrations , management , training , and monitor the vaccine administration . Through the system , we can also get direct updates from MySejahtera on the vaccination rates .
ProtectHealth also needs to provide training to the PMPs which are registered on vaccine and PPV management . We monitor vaccination activities , investigate anomalies , and carry out relevant analysis and reporting .
Another critical challenge is the logistics and the fluidity of the vaccines supply and utilisation .
There are situations where the supply of one type of vaccine is running low , and the other is in abundance . MoH Pharmacy needs to identify and distribute them accordingly to avoid wastage . There are so many fluidities in the planning .
It is noteworthy that there is no playbook on carrying out a nationwide vaccination programme . We can try to learn from the experience of the Spanish flu or SARS virus , but those are on different scales and are of a different timeline .
What is the logistics in terms of distributing the vaccines nationwide , particularly to rural areas ? At the moment , there are three vaccines distributed nationwide – Pfizer , AstraZeneca and Sinovac . For AstraZeneca , the distribution is relatively straightforward as it is only assigned to eight locations . Pfizer , on the other hand , must be stored in an ultra-low temperature freezer . MoH only have about 60 vaccine storage centres .
As for the rural areas and undocumented migrant workers , the idea is to utilise single-dose vaccines like CanSino or Johnson & Johnson .
We will not discriminate concerning nationality . As long as they are in the country , we will vaccinate them because everyone is vulnerable to Covid-19 . We can fight the pandemic by getting as many people vaccinated as fast as possible .
Could you please update us on the participation of PMPs in the NIP ? We have about 8,000 GPs nationwide , but only 3,000 have registered so far . We have about 1,000 active GP PPVs .
As of July 26 , 2021 , there are more than 1,600 active PPVs involving the PMPs and Healthcare NGOs , comprising 1,654 PPVGP ; 31 PPVKP ; 122 PPVHS ; 25 PPVACC ; 6 PPVAZ ; 68 PPV Integrasi / Mega ; 48 PPV Industri ; 18 PPV Mobile ; and 6 Healthcare NGOs .
There are three models on how the PMPs can participate in the vaccination programme . First , give the vaccine in their own facilities – clinics , private hospitals ,
There are three models on how the PMPs can participate in the vaccination programme . First , give the vaccine in their own facilities – clinics , private hospitals , ambulatory care centres , or specialist clinics . The second model is giving vaccines outside their facilities by joining the mega PPV facilities . The third one is the PPV Industri for the critical economic sector .”
— Dr Anas
ambulatory care centres , or specialist clinics . The second model is giving vaccines outside their facilities by joining the mega PPV facilities . The third one is the PPV Industri for the critical economic sectors .
How will the participation of private healthcare providers help the NIP ? For the past two years , the government has been fighting the pandemic . So , now is the time for the private sector to rally and contribute to the vaccination . This will ease the burden of the Ministry of Health ( MoH ) and its workforce .
The initial target was that 30 per cent of the vaccination under the NIP will be done