The Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin should require all his Ministers in his bloated Cabinet to see Muntoh Fong’s video to understand the people’s disappointment and anger at the government’s failure to care for the elderly in the Covid-19 pandemic.
I saw Muntoh Fong’s video and it is clear that there is no answer to his charges of government failure and irresponsibility in the National Vaccination Campaign.
Muntoh Fong is the Secretary of the Association for Residential Aged Care Operators of Malaysia and he posted a video on Facebook saying he was very worried about the future of nursing homes with the ongoing rise of Covid-19 cases in these homes.
He urged the government to show that it cares about the elderly, saying it is disappointed with the health ministry’s failure to administer vaccinations among elderly under care.
Fong was upset that many people who were not in the at-risk groups had already been vaccinated but not the people at nursing homes.
He said nursing home operators were considered frontline workers but until now, there was no news on any vaccination plans.
He added the association had offered to help the health ministry with vaccinations but was told they were not needed.
He also accused the health ministry of having called away 200 to 300 nurses from nursing homes for emergency assistance in handling the pandemic.
This jeopardised nursing homes and right now over 30 out of 1,700 nursing homes have been infected by Covid-19. But thankfully, the death rates are low.
The coordinating minister for the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme, Khairy Jamaluddin, should act immediately to prove Fong wrong and reaffirm that the Muhyiddin government cares for the elderly in the nursing homes.
Khairy should also heed the warning of the Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) about a tsunami of Covid-19 cases and fatalities from nursing homes and aged care centres.
The MMA President, Dr. M. Subramaniam, had urged the government to take proactive action to vaccinate the elderly who are staying in nursing homes and aged care centres to avoid a tsunami of cases from this category.
He warned that this is particularly pertinent and relevant as the country is running out of intensive care unit (ICU) beds for Covid-19 cases.
The government can engage private general practitioners (GPs) to provide vaccinations at these centres in case the government lacks the manpower to do so
He said that the demand for ICU hospitalisation can rapidly increase if older persons at nursing homes and aged care facilities (registered and unregistered) are infected with Covid-19.
Dr. Subrfamaniam sai: “With cases of Covid-19 on the rise now, the Special Committee on Ensuring Access to Covid-19 Vaccine Supply (JKJAV) must ensure this vulnerable group is vaccinated to protect against the coronavirus and to prevent breakouts at these aged care facilities.
“Urgency must be given to this as there is a high likelihood that due to old age and medical condition, older persons in this category will require ICU hospitalisation if infected with Covid-19.”
Khairy should act immediately.
(Media Statement (2) by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday, May 16, 2021)