Former Deputy Cm Says Preventive Law Needed After Empty Syringe Case

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A health worker handles the Covid-19 vaccine at a clinic in Kuala Selangor recently. - NSTP file pciKOTA KINABALU: Former deputy chief minister Datuk Christina Liew said the government should consider enacting a preventive law to make the act of administering an empty syringe vaccine jab a criminal offence.
She said such an enactment should be put in place to serve as a deterrent to would-be perpetrators.
"It should be deemed a crime for anyone to knowingly and deliberately administer 'empty syringe' vaccine shots. The Covid-19 pandemic is a matter of life and death, so don't indulge in foolhardy practices.
"Vaccinators should not put more citizens' lives at risk by shirking their responsibilities," she said in a statement, adding that such cases were the work of someone heartless and irresponsible.
On Monday, the Covid-19 Immunisation Task Force (CITF) addressed claims made in a video that allegedly showed a healthcare worker failing to press the syringe into a recipient at a drive-thru vaccination centre at an army camp in Sungai Petani on July 17.
CITF said the armed forces had launched an investigation into the case and summoned those involved for an explanation. CITF said disciplinary action had been taken against the staff dispensing the vaccine.
Around the same time, Sentul police chief Assistant Commissioner Beh Eng Lai said a report had been lodged on a similar situation that happened at the Malaysia International Trade and Exhibition Centre's vaccine administration centre (PPV), and an investigation was ongoing.
Kajang police, however, said its probe into a similar incident at the Bangi Avenue Convention Centre (BACC) PPV had been completed. Checks had shown that the complainant was indeed injected with the Sinovac vaccine.
Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Adham Baba had responded to the issue on Tuesday by saying that those who were deliberately not injected with the Covid-19 vaccine will be given new inoculation appointments soon. - NST

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