One of the greatest discoveries a man makes, one of his great surprises, is to find he can do what he was afraid he couldn’t do.
– Henry Ford, American industrialist
I decided to touch on the Covid-19 vaccination programme this week after I overheard a funny conversation while having breakfast at the mamak’s last Saturday.
The conversation was between three young good-looking twenty-something men.
It went something like this:
Guy A: Have you registered for the vaccination programme?
Guy B: No lah! Not sure I am going to sign up. What about you, Zul?
Guy C (Zul): No, don’t think I’m going to register either.
Guy A: Why not?
Zul: I heard my friends say the vaccine might affect your performance?
Guy A: What performance are you talking about?
Zul: Aiyah! Your ‘little brother’ lah! Didn’t you hear? Also, the newspapers have reported some have died after taking the jab.
Guy A: Oh, I see! You’re talking about our batang! No such thing lah. Never read anything about it in the papers or internet.
Guy B: Zul, true kah? If like that, I better wait and see. Let’s see how the vaccine works on others first. Maybe I will wait till the end of the year.
Guy A: Teruk, you guys. No such thing lah. My older brother, a frontliner was among the first to take the jab. I have not heard him complain of any side effects. He seems to be perfectly okay with his sweetheart.
Zul: How you know he’s okay with his girl? He told you ah?
Guy A: He didn’t complain anything. So, I guess his thing is working perfectly. Otherwise, he would have confided in me. We are close and talk about anything.
I will stop here and move on to what I wish to convey in this week’s write-up.
That kedai mamak conversation goes to show that there are still a lot of us who do not have sufficient and accurate information on the Covid-19 vaccine.
There are still a lot of sceptics out there whom our government needs to convince.
And if our people do not have enough and accurate information about the vaccine, how are we to expect them, especially the rural and old folk, to be convinced to sign up for the programme? Our health officials and political leaders should look into ways to effectively disseminate information to the general public, the rural people in particular.
As Malaysia’s daily vaccination rates go up, Sarawak — which has the country’s fourth biggest population after Selangor, Sabah, and Johor — managed to vaccinate slightly more than one percent of its eligible population as of March 10.
I am not sure if we can achieve herd immunity (meaning the indirect protection from an infectious disease that happens when a certain percentage of the population is immune through vaccination) before the 12th state election speculated to be held in June.
Is enough information being channelled to the general population to get them to change their mind, get themselves registered and vaccinated?
Is the social media as effective in disseminating news on the vaccination programme as we thought it to be? I think the internet is equally guilty of sending out false and unreliable information about the vaccine.
So, what can be done? House to house education programme on the vaccine is out of question, at least for now. Huge gatherings or even manageable smaller groups are also out of question because of strict SOPs.
I say let’s disseminate important information about the vaccine and vaccination programme through multi-lingual leaflets and pamphlets. These leaflets should be distributed to every nook and corner of our state.
Maybe this suggestion is preposterous: have we thought of airdropping the leaflets or pamphlets to the remote parts of Sarawak and semi-urban areas?
When we were fighting the communists in the 60s and 70s it was common for military helicopters to drop anti-communist propaganda leaflets. It worked then and it could also work now for the authorities with the vaccination programme leaflets.
Like they say, if you don’t try you will never know.
Radio and television should also do the job as almost every one of us has access to some form of electronic equipment.
So far, a few Covid-19 vaccines will be used in our national vaccination plan.
The main one is the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine manufactured by the United States. Apparently 32 million doses have been ordered.
The others are Sinovac (China), 12 million ordered; CanSino Biologics (China), 3.5 million doses; and Sputnik V (Russia), 6.4 million doses.
The vaccine is found to be safe for most people, including those with various conditions who are associated with increased risk of severe diseases.
These include hypertension, diabetes, asthma, pulmonary, liver or kidney disease, as well as chronic infections that are stable and controlled.
Only people with allergies, especially those with a history of severe allergic reaction to any component of the vaccine, should not take it.
Pregnant and breastfeeding women have also been advised not to take it. But these categories of people should consult their doctors who would give them appropriate advice.
Also, those with bleeding disorder, or taking any blood thinning medications, recently or currently receiving treatment for cancer, organ or stem cell transplantation should seek medical advice before going for the jab.
By the way, I was among the early ones who registered for the vaccine programme. If you haven’t, please do so and don’t wait till the last minute.
