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More than a year ago on 24th April 2020, I suggested the establishment of a Covid-19 Pandemic Study Centre to learn from the successes and mistakes of other nations so that we can be effective and efficient in our war against the Covid-19 pandemic.

But like the many constructive suggestions that I had made last year how best to fight to Covid-19 pandemic, it fell on deaf ears.

We were once some 50 positions behind China, the country where the pandemic started and which had a population 40 times that of Malaysia, in cumulative total of Covid-19 cases, but we are now 68 rankings ahead of China, as we are ranked No. 33 among countries in the world with most cumulative total of Covid-19 cases, as Malaysia has 844,870 Covid-19 cases while China is ranked No. 101 with 92,095 cases.

The latest lesson from the United States on vaccination are useful for Malaysia – the staggering difference in Covid-19 cases between states with high vaccination rates and states which are lagging.

Over the past week, states in the U.S. that have fully vaccinated more than half of their residents have reported an average Covid-19 case rate that is about a third of that in states which have fully vaccinated less than half of their residents.

Alabama, Mississippi and Arkansas are the only states to have fully vaccinated fewer than 35% of their residents. Average daily case rates in each state were among the 10 worst in United States last week.

Vermont leads the nation with about 66% of its population fully vaccinated — and while case rates there increased compared to last week, the state still had the lowest case rate in the United States last week, with an average of less than one new case per 100,000 people each day.

States that have fully vaccinated more than half of their residents reported an average of 2.8 new Covid-19 cases per 100,000 people each day last week, compared to an average of about 7.8 cases per 100,000 people each day in states that have vaccinated less than half of their residents.

There is the further information that more than 99% of the US Covid-19 deaths in June were among unvaccinated people.

Yesterday, the Health Minister Adham Baba announced that 3,26,676 people had received their second dose of the vaccine and 7,840,034 people received their first dose.

As Malaysia has achieved less than 11% of the population fully vaccinated after four months of the national immunisation rollout, when will Malaysia be able to have more than half of the population fully vaccinated and what are the plans to accelerate this objective of the national vaccination rollout which is the first step to win the war against the Covid-19 pandemic?

Community activist Dr. Mohamad Rafick Khan has blogged on the importance of the government presenting meaningful information for public consumption.

He said that in past few months, the Malaysian public had been given information which created a sense of anxiety and the feeling of hopelessness, when Malaysians wanted hope, able to see the light at the end of the tunnel and to know what the government was doing to make them safe.

He called for a serious rethink of the government communication package and strategy.

He said if the vaccination program had been rolled out based on risk groups, the death rates and ICU beds utilization rates would have come down by now.

He described the death rates and ICU beds availability as indirect indicators of the success of the vaccination program. Right now, it pointed to a mid-term failure.

Is the government prepared to enhance transparency and improve its communication content and strategy?

Yesterday, there was a 15-minute video by Projek Bangsa Malaysia featuring only audio of people said to be front-line workers, projecting an image of a “sinking” public healthcare system in the Klang Valley.

The recording is said to have been made on July 9, when there was a live stream of Klang Valley medical frontliners sharing their personal accounts anonymously.

“It’s like a ship that’s sinking, you know? People are really trying to keep the ship afloat but these people are putting holes right into the ship,” one of them says.

She adds that there is an urgent need for more equipment, especially oxygen tanks, with another individual saying that one canister needed to be shared among five other patients.

“We are replacing oxygen canisters by the hour,” another says.

In the age of social media, the Prime Minister, Muhyiddin Yassin cannot pretend that such a video does not exist.

Malaysians expect a truthful response from the government.

(Media Statement (2) by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday, 13th July, 2021)

#kerajaangagal171 — Bilakah lebih daripada separuh populasi Malaysia akan diberi vaksin sepenuhnya terhadap Covid-19, perkara ini adalah merupakan langkah pertama untuk memenangi perang melawan Covid-19

Lebih dari setahun yang lalu pada 24 April 2020, saya mencadangkan penubuhan Pusat Kajian Pandemik Covid-19 untuk belajar dari kejayaan dan kesilapan negara lain agar kita dapat menjadi berkesan dan cekap dalam perang kita melawan wabak Covid-19.

Tetapi seperti banyak cadangan konstruktif yang saya buat tahun lalu bagaimana cara terbaik untuk melawan wabak Covid-19, ia tidak diendahkan.

Kita pernah berada 50 kedudukan di belakang China — negara di mana wabak ini bermula dan yang mempunyai populasi 40 kali ganda lebih ramai berbanding dengan Malaysia — dalam jumlah keseluruhan kes Covid-19, tetapi sekarang kita 68 kedudukan di hadapan China di tempat ke-33 di antara negara-negara di dunia dengan jumlah terkumpul kes Covid-19 tertinggi, dengan 844,870 kes berbanding dengan 92,095 kes di China.

Pengajaran terbaru yang kita dapati di Amerika Syarikat amatlah berguna untuk Malaysia — negeri di AS dengan kadar vaksinasi yang tinggi menunjukkan perbezaan yang ketara berbanding dengan negeri yang lembat.

Sepanjang minggu yang lalu, negeri-negeri di A.S. yang telah memberi vaksinasi sepenuhnya kepada lebih daripada separuh penduduknya telah melaporkan kadar kes Covid-19 purata yang kira-kira satu pertiga daripada yang berlaku di negeri-negeri yang telah memberi vaksin sepenuhnya kepada kurang dari separuh penduduknya.

Hanya Alabama, Mississippi dan Arkansas yang baru memberi vaksin sepenuhnya kepada kurang daripada 35% penduduknya. Purata kadar kes harian di setiap negeri-negeri ini adalah antara 10 yang terburuk di Amerika Syarikat pada minggu lalu.

Vermont memimpin negara tersebut dengan sekitar 66% penduduknya diberi vaksin sepenuhnya – dan sementara kadar kes di sana meningkat berbanding minggu sebelumnya, negeri tersebut masih mencatatkan kadar kes terendah di Amerika Syarikat minggu lalu, dengan rata-rata kurang dari satu kes baru setiap 100,000 orang setiap hari.

Negeri-negeri yang telah memberi vaksin sepenuhnya lebih daripada separuh penduduknya melaporkan purata 2.8 kes Covid-19 baru setiap 100,000 orang setiap hari minggu lalu, berbanding purate kira-kira 7.8 kes setiap 100,000 orang setiap hari di negeri-negeri yang telah memberi vaksinasi kurang dari separuh penduduk mereka.

Terdapat maklumat lebih lanjut bahawa lebih daripada 99% kematian Covid-19 AS pada bulan Jun adalah antara orang yang tidak divaksinasi.

Semalam, Menteri Kesihatan Adham Baba mengumumkan bahawa 3,26,676 orang telah menerima dos kedua vaksin mereka dan 7,840,034 orang menerima dos pertama mereka.

Memandangkan Malaysia telah mencapai kurang dari 11% populasi yang diberi vaksin sepenuhnya setelah empat bulan pelancaran program imunisasi nasional, bilakah Malaysia akan capai lebih daripada separuh populasi sepenuhnya divaksinasi dan apakah rancangan untuk mempercepat objektif vaksinasi nasional ini pelancaran yang merupakan langkah pertama untuk memenangi perang melawan pandemi Covid-19?

Aktivis masyarakat, Dr Mohamad Rafick Khan telah menulis blog mengenai pentingnya kerajaan menyampaikan maklumat yang bermakna untuk penggunaan awam.

Beliau mengatakan bahawa dalam beberapa bulan terakhir ini, masyarakat Malaysia telah diberi maklumat yang menimbulkan rasa cemas dan perasaan putus asa, ketika rakyat Malaysia menginginkan harapan, dapat melihat cahaya di hujung terowong dan untuk mengetahui apa yang dilakukan oleh kerajaan untuk memastikan keselamatan rakyat.

Beliau menyeru supaya program dan strategi komunikasi kerajaan dirangka semula.

Beliau mengatakan sekiranya program vaksinasi ini dilaksanakan mengikut kumpulan risiko, kadar kematian dan kadar penggunaan katil unit rawatan rapi sepatutnya sudah mula menurun.

Beliau menggunakan kadar kematian dan ketersediaan katil unit rawatan rapi sebagai petunjuk tidak langsung kejayaan program vaksinasi. Sekarang ini, ia menunjukkan kegagalan jangka panjang.

Apakah kerajaan bersedia untuk meningkatkan ketelusan dan menambah baik kandungan dan strategi komunikasinya?

Semalam, terdapat video berdurasi 15 minit oleh Projek Bangsa Malaysia yang memaparkan audio seseorang yang dikatakan sebagai petugas barisan depan, menggambarkan kegagalan sistem kesihatan awam di Lembah Klang.

Rakaman itu dikatakan telah dibuat pada 9 Julai, ketika terdapat siaran langsung barisan perubatan perubatan Lembah Klang yang berkongsi kisah peribadi mereka.

“Seakan-akan sebuah kapal yang sedang tenggelam, tahu? Ramai yang cuba untuk memastikan kapal ini terus terapung, tetapi terdapat mereka yang terus menebuk lubang ke atas kapal ini,” kata seorang daripada mereka.

Beliau menambah lagi bahawa terdapat keperluan mendesak untuk lebih banyak perkakasan, terutamanya tabung oksigen, dengan seorang lagi individu mengatakan yang satu tabung oksigen kini perlu dikongsi bersama lima orang pesakit.

“Kami mengganti tabung oksigen setiap jam,” kata yang lain.

Di zaman media sosial, Perdana Menteri, Muhyiddin Yassin tidak boleh berpura-pura bahawa video seperti ini tidak wujud.

Rakyat Malaysia mengharapkan respons yang jujur dari kerajaan.

(Kenyataan Media (2) Ahli Parlimen DAP Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang di Kuala Lumpur pada hari Selasa, 13 Julai 2021)