Press Statement By Irene Chang:
The state government has to address the concerns of many people who have received their Covid-19 vaccination but whose MySejahtera could not be updated to reflect their status of vaccination. Once a person has completed the Covid-19 doses, a digital certificate would be automatically generated and would be reflected in the MySejahtera. Unfortunately, there are many in Sibu who were vaccinated as early as March and April and yet, have still not receive the digital certificate in their MySejahtera.
Although at this moment, we do not know the exact relevance of the digital certificate and how it might be used, the state government should prepare Sarawakians for what may come. We cannot brush aside the possibility that the digital certificate may become a passport required for travelling to other states or countries sometime in the future. With no digital certificate to prove that they have been successfully vaccinated, these persons might then be later hindered from travelling for business, studies and leisure.
The state government should therefore make sure that this concern is addressed promptly and effectively with the Covid-19 Immunisation Task force (CITF) in order that our people would not face unnecessary difficulties in the future. They need to get ahead of the time by ensuring that if people do need it further down the track, the digital certificate is there and available for them. This is especially when many countries, including China, Israel and the European Union have already established a vaccine passport programme for the purpose of facilitating restriction-free movement to restart travel and tourism in their countries.
Besides the non-reflection of the true status of the MySejehtera owner, problem such as unsuccessful registration for vaccination is also very common. When this happens, the persons who have registered would be kept waiting for the notification of the date of registration which would never come. If they don’t seek the help of the local leaders here, they might be forever kept waiting and would be missed from the vaccination drive.
With the RM70 million being allocated and spent on the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme’s (NIP), such problems should be considered as minor technical problems. However, if they are not resolved, they might later pose as a major hindrance to the flattening of the pandemic and to the restarting of our economy. They should not be allowed to exist at all and should be resolved promptly with CIFT and the administrators of MySejehtera.
