PUTRAJAYA – A total of 1,911 private medical practitioners (GPs) have registered to be involved in Phases 2 and 3 of the National COVID-19 Immunisation Programme, said Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Adham Baba.
He said those who had registered would be given briefings and training on the scope of work in the immunisation programme as well as complete guidelines and manuals as a reference for handling the administering of vaccines to the Phase 2 and 3 target groups.
“To maximise access to vaccine distribution more widely to the people, more GPs are called upon to get involved,” he said in a statement today.
Interested GPs must register with ProtectHealth Corporation Sdn Bhd (ProtectHealth) through the website www.protecthealth.com.my. ProtectHealth was incorporated on Dec 19, 2016 under the Ministry of Health as a non -profit company.
Through the website, GPs can obtain information related to vaccination models, scope of work, requirements, payment rates and payment methods.
The first phase of the vaccination exercise from February to April involves 500,000 frontliners, mostly health workers.
The programme will continue with the second phase which is expected from April to August this year involving 9.4 million senior citizens aged 60 and above as well as vulnerable groups with morbidity problems, in addition to persons with disabilities.
The third phase scheduled from May to February 2022 is for those aged 18 and above with a target of about 14 million people.
Allowed to get own supply of vaccines
National COVID-19 Immunisation Programme Coordinating Minister Khairy Jamaluddin meanwhile in a related development, has said that private hospitals will be given permission to negotiate with suppliers to purchase COVID-19 vaccines.
But being personally involved in discussions with vaccine providers, he said vaccine delivery to private markets will most likely be made in the third and fourth quarter of this year, earliest.
“So I will discuss with private hospitals about approval for them to initiate discussions.
“People who are wealthy should not think that they can pay for a shot this month or next month because the entire world is suffering from a lack of vaccine supply,” he told a media conference on developments on the National COVID-19 Immunisation Programme here.
“I will let them try to procure but to manage the expectations of Malaysians, I can tell you the private market will not immediately give them,” he added.
In addition, Khairy, who is also Science, Technology and Innovation Minister, said the public and private sectors will cooperate for the provision of COVID-19 vaccines to companies in specific industries that are operating in red zones and with more than 5,000 workers.
“This cooperation will be announced when we decide the form of cooperation with the industry players,” he said.
Meanwhile, Khairy said the Environment and Water Ministry has prepared a guidebook titled “Green Vaccination Programme” to help turn the operations at vaccination centres to be more environmentally-friendly.
“With the presence of more people at the centres and the consumption of resources on a large scale, including the handling of procured goods, the guidebook is an initiative towards sustainable resource management from the aspect of waste management and electricity use,” he added.
