For the consideration of the new Minister of Health, Khairy Jamaluddin:

1)Timely update of vaccination status on the MySejahtera App

There is feedback that some individuals fully vaccinated under the PICK program are still waiting for their vaccination status to be reflected in the MySejahtera App. There are also individuals who have been vaccinated under the Selangor state government’s SELVAX program which have not gotten their MySejahtera digital vaccination certificates. This delay in the update presents obstacles for the affected individuals to go to workplaces which require employees to be fully vaccinated e.g. restaurants. The yet to be updated vaccination status on MySejahtera is also problematic when it comes to enjoying privileges such as dining-in and even buying groceries^[1]  for those who are fully vaccinated.

2)Quick rectification of mistakes in the updating the MySejahtera vaccination information

There are cases of a person’s name or IC number wrongly input into MySejahtera and / or in the Digital Vaccination Certificate. These kinds of issues should be quickly resolved when a request is made via the HELPDESK function on the MySejahtera App.

3) Updating the status of fully vaccinated individuals who’s MySejahtera status cannot be changed at the PPV because someone else has “used” or “registered” their identity

Some foreigners have had their passports used to register another person to be vaccinated. This is akin to identity theft via MySejahtera.

4) The transfer of the vaccination certificates to dependents

Many adult children who registered their parents as dependents would like to transfer the digital vaccination certificate to their parents, especially those who do not live together or nearby. This should be done in a timely and transparent manner so that parents / dependents can enjoy the privileges of a fully vaccinated person.

5) Updating MySejahtera vaccination status based on overseas vaccination

The current procedure, which requires an individual to go to the nearest District Health Office (Pejabat Kesihatan Negeri) needs to be changed, as it is cumbersome and not practical. It should be done through online verification and “interoperable” block-chain recognition where possible (in the case of Singapore for example, where we are supposed to have a mutual recognition system for the digital vaccination certificates). The current process which takes 4-5 weeks is far too long and not practical. A proper SOP to be undertaken at the MySejahtera level should be put in place rather than burdening the state or the district health offices with another responsibility that can be better administered by non-health specialists.

6) Updating of MySejahtera status post COVID19 recovery

If an individual who has recovered Covid19 does not report his or her status daily, the MySejahtera status may still reflect the positive case after 14 days of quarantine. This process should be streamlined such that individuals who do not update their daily status at the end of the day will receive a call from MySejahtera the next day. This process can be easily automated.

7) Allow those returning from overseas to have shorter quarantine times or home quarantine if they are fully vaccinated

(This requires faster processing by MOH and updating of MySejahtera vaccination status); Allow those who are fully vaccinated to travel to countries with low number of cases for leisure e.g. Singapore (This requires timely updating of the MySejahtera digital vaccination certificate)

Further ahead, we may want to consider issuing temporary vaccination certificates to tourists who have been fully vaccinated abroad, so that they can enjoy the same privileges as residents who have been fully vaccinated. This is one of the ways in which our tourism sector can be opened safely and securely to foreign tourists.

8) Increase capacity of MySejahtera HELPDESK and HOTLINE, including the use of technology such as Artificial Intelligence and Chatbots

The increased economic activity resulting from a faster response rate to vaccination certification related issues will justify the additional funds spent on increasing MySejahtera capacity.

9) Establish clear KPIs for processing requests for MySejahtera, eg. “X” no. of working days for processing overseas vaccination status

Once there is a critical mass of applications which have been processed and approved – automation can be applied to speed up and simplify the process.

10)  Improve the MySejahtera digital contact tracing capacity to be able to trace at least 80% of all close contacts within 24 hours and provide better alert notifications of possible close contact immediately and advisory on next step of action.

This should be part and parcel of the Find, Test, Trace, Isolate and Support (FTTIS) national testing policy to ensure that the number of COVID19 related cases remain low and under control when the full effect of the national vaccination program is in place.

Joint statement by

Dr. Ong Kian Ming, Member of Parliament for Bangi

Dr. Kelvin Yii, Member of Parliament for Bandar Kuching