Malaysians Enraged By Empty Syringe Vaccinations Bukit Gasing Rep

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Bukit Gasing assemblyperson Rajiv Rishyakaran has called on the government to beef up its standard operating procedures (SOPs) in light of empty syringe episodes that have angered and upset Malaysians.
"Millions of Malaysians are enraged after watching the viral video of a boy being injected with an empty syringe by a nurse at a vaccination centre.
"At the most basic level, this begs the question of why there is more than one syringe lying on the table in front of the nurse. Used syringes should have been disposed of immediately after use, and new ones should be opened one at a time.
"Citing 'human error' and defending the nurse as having made 'an honest mistake' is unacceptable," said Rajiv in a statement today.
"This incident has also happened to many others in the last few months, and I wonder how many other incidents have gone unnoticed.
In many instances, the parents do not accompany their children to the vaccination centre as they have already given prior consent via the school authorities.
"And in any case, the onus is not on the parents but rather, the Ministry of Health to enforce its SOPs properly," he added.
He was commenting after the Covid-19 Immunisation Task Force - Adolescent (CITF-A) apologised after a 12-year-old was mistakenly injected with an empty syringe at the University Malaya vaccination centre (PPV UM) recently.
Deputy Health Minister Dr Noor Azmi Ghazali said an initial investigation found the incident took place on Thursday and clarified the teenager was immediately given a new dosage after the health worker involved realised her mistake.
This comes after a video purportedly showing the incident went viral on social media.

Noor Azmi explained the health worker mistook an unused empty syringe instead of a filled syringe from the same table.

Rajiv said that such explanations were not acceptable.
"In the first place, vaccinators should ensure that only the syringe being used is on the table to avoid any confusion. By claiming it was "human error" is unsatisfactory and completely trivialises the seriousness of the situation.
"I urge the government to take the concern of the people seriously and institute additional safeguards such as CCTVs to record the vaccination process and perhaps consider hiring independent auditors to ensure that this situation does not recur," he added.
Taking note of the workload of vaccinators, he said that the government must also ensure that they are not fatigued and weary when carrying out their responsibilities.
"The ministry needs to ensure that staff members are not working beyond their designated shifts," said Rajiv.
He said that the vaccination process is a matter of national importance and requires constant monitoring to ensure its success.
"Malaysians have shown their commitment to getting vaccinated. The MOH must play its part to ensure that every vaccine injection is done properly and professionally." - Mkini

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