OSC can only succeed if we put aside our political differences and work together

On 19 July, 2021

Media Statement
17^{^th} July 2021

Thankful for the opportunity to play a constructive role in Operation Surge Capacity in the Klang Valley

I would like to thank YAB, Dato Seri Amirudin Shari, Menteri Besar of Selangor, for giving me the opportunity to coordinate the ramp up of COVID19 vaccinations among the industry in Selangor together with the relevant federal agencies as part of “Operation Surge Capacity” (OSC).^[1] The purpose of OSC is to ensure that every single adult in the Klang Valley (Selangor and KL) receives at least ONE dose of one of the COVID19 vaccines by the 1^st of August. I would also like to express my thanks to the Coordinating Minister for the COVID19 vaccine rollout, YB Khairy Jamaluddin for agreeing to this appointment and for his initiative in coming up with OSC in light of the high number of cases in the Klang Valley over the past two weeks.^[2] I look forward to working with Dato’ Teng Chang Kim, who is overseeing the rollout of the SELVAX Industry program in Selangor, and his capable team at SELCARE and also Senator Dato’ Lim Ban Hong, Deputy Minister of MITI, who is overseeing the rollout of the PIKAS program for the manufacturing sector in Malaysia, and his capable team at MITI.

There is still much work to be done to prepare for this ramp up which will see 1.3m doses of vaccines being administered from the 26^th of July to the 1^st of August 2021 out of which 500,000 doses will be administered for industry workers (250,000 for SELVAX Industry and 250,000 for MITI’s PIKAS). This means that the daily capacity in the Klang Valley will have to be increased from 180,000 daily doses currently (14^th to 18^th of July) to 210,000 daily doses (from 19^th to the 25^th of July) and then to at least 272,000 daily doses from the 26^th of July to the 1^st of August 2021 (Diagram 1 below). This would require an increase in the daily doses administered by the current PPVs under PICK, in the existing 5 sites that are already operating under SELVAX Industry and in the current and soon to be opened PIKAS sites in Selangor and KL.

MITI and SELCARE (who runs the SELVAX Industry program) will have to coordinate to minimize the amount of overlap between companies which want to get their workers vaccinated during the OSC. There also needs to be clear communication by MITI and SELCARE for those companies which have signed up for both programs (SELVAX Industry and PIKAS) and those who have yet to sign up for any program. For example, those who are willing and able to pay for the SELVAX Industry program should remain committed to this program while those who may not be able to afford the SELVAX Industry program can wait and / or apply for the MITI PIKAS program. More PIKAS and SELVAX Industry vaccination sites may have to be opened to cater for the increase in the number of vaccinations.

SELCARE will also have to work with MySejahtera to push for those who have been vaccinated under the SELVAX program to have their MySejahtera status updated as soon as possible so that these individuals won’t be allocated slots by MySejahtera to go for their vaccination appointments. The ability of MySejatera to update its database to reflect the SELVAX vaccinations is especially important in impacting the ability of OSC to reach its objective of reaching full vaccination in the Klang Valley by the 1^st of August.

Other details will have to be worked out by all of the stakeholders during next week, before the OSC begins full force on the week starting 26^th of July, 2021. We must work together closely and put politics aside in order for the OSC to work so as to bring down the number of COVID19 daily cases and more importantly, those with serious COVID19 cases and who need to be hospitalized and put in the ICU.

Diagram 1: Key figures in Operation Surge Capacity (OSC) to achieve full vaccination among adults 18 and over in the Klang Valley (Selangor and KL)