KUALA LUMPUR – Raja Permaisuri Agong Tunku Hajah Azizah Aminah Maimunah Iskandariah today extended her deepest appreciation to frontliners for their contributions and sacrifices in the battle against COVID-19.
Tunku Azizah said COVID-19 has put significant pressure on everyone’s life but the frontliners continued to devote their time and energy to contain the pandemic.
“On this memorable occasion, I would like to express my sincere gratitude and thank you for the contributions and sacrifices made by all frontliners who continued to carry out their responsibilities regardless of their hardships and health risks.
“Thank you for being dedicated, courageous and selfless to overcome these challenges we are currently facing. I would like to take this opportunity to thank members of the public who have volunteered to assist our frontliners,” she said.
Her Majesty said this in her speech in conjunction with the Ibn Khaldun Merit Award for Global Social Transformation to the Frontliners at the International Institute of Islamic Thought and Civilisation, International Islamic University of Malaysia (ISTAC-IIUM).
Tunku Azizah, who is also the Constitutional Head of IIUM, said she was very proud that Malaysia was one of the first countries to come up with various quick responses to protect its citizens from the virus.
Apart from efforts by the government, she said, many contributions were made by Malaysians to overcome COVID-19.
“I am deeply honoured to present this award to the frontliners as a symbol of appreciation, gratitude and recognition for the services and efforts you have made during the rapid outbreak that our country and the world are grappling with.
“This award hopefully will raise your spirit in working hard in fighting COVID-19 which is still ongoing. InsyaAllah,” said Tunku Azizah.
Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah received the award on behalf of the frontliners.
Impressive registration numbers
Meaanwhile in a related development, the number of registrations for the National COVID-19 Immunisation Programme at 5,867,497 as of last midnight has been impressive as the country is still in the first phase of the programme, said Deputy Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Datuk Ahmad Amzad Hashim.
He said on average, 200,000 to 300,000 people registered for the immunisation programme every day and was confident that the number would continue to rise when the whole registration machinery is mobilised.
“The National Disaster Management Agency (NADMA) will lead the engagement sessions with residents at the rural and interior areas to encourage registration.
“We are also increasing communications so that we can deliver more information to the people,” he told Bernama in a virtual interview today.
He said currently, there was still a clear gap in the total number of registrations between states, as Kedah, Kelantan, Terengganu and Pahang showed poor registration rates compared to the others.
Ahmad Amzad said Malaysians, in general, did not reject the vaccine but many were taking the wait-and-see approach as they were not fully convinced of the vaccine’s safety and stability.
“When people look at reality, with over 367,000 people inoculated in the first phase with no bad allergic reaction and so on, many will have the confidence and register,” he said.
Apart from that, the ministry was currently upgrading the MySejahtera application to enable users to register their dependents as vaccine recipients on the application by the second phase of the programme, next month.
He said the National COVID-19 Immunisation Programme, which was launched on Feb 24, aimed at protecting the general public, including those who could not be vaccinated, from the pandemic through the creation of herd immunity, and the government targeted that 80 per cent of the population would be vaccinated within a year.
“When we have achieved herd immunity, Malaysia will be on track to reopen the economy and the people will return to their normal lives,” he said.
Ahmad Amzad also urged the public to play their role in making the immunisation programme a success by disseminating accurate and valid information besides helping their family and community to register as vaccine recipients.
