KUALA LUMPUR: The authorities must leave no stone unturned in its efforts to speed up the ongoing National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme, said Alliance for Safe Community chairman Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye.

He said the progress so far had been good but “we can, and must, make it even better.”

“To be able to do that, we should source for more vaccine manufacturers other than Pfizer, Sinovac and AstraZeneca.

“This is important because the public response to the vaccination programme has been very encouraging, ” he said in a statement.

He observed that many people are eager to be vaccinated, going by the number of people who have signed up for the vaccines.

“This is a good sign because it shows that the majority have not been discouraged by the negativity that has been expressed in social media and circulated by word of mouth, ” he said.

In the drive to speed up the vaccination rollout, Lee said it was a good idea to allow states to

purchase the vaccines, subject to the approval of the National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Authority.

“The same goes for private hospitals. This is the time to have all hands on deck.”

He cautioned that the pandemic had not gone through the worst period yet.

“It has been estimated that the number of daily cases will top 8,000 before we can regain our lost ground in this fight.

“We cannot let our guard down. We cannot and should not have double standards in the application of the rules and regulations that have been put in place to fight this deadly disease, ” he said.

Lee also saluted the frontliners who have been managing vaccination centres.

“Their service is second to none. It is world-class, ” he said.

https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2021/05/20/lee-vaccination-roll-out-good-but-can-be-better