Private Firms Gearing Up To Join Miti S Pay To Vaccinate Pilot Programme

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COVID-19 | Private firms are now collecting the details of employees and tenants who are interested in paying to get their staff vaccinated. They are part of a pilot programme involving public-private partnership roll-out of Covid-19 vaccines.
Participating firms would have to cover costs for the immunisation process, while the vaccines are provided free of charge under National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme (NIP).
Spearheaded by the International Trade and Industry Ministry (Miti), the project is currently at a preliminary stage involving a handful of large companies, according to sources.
It has been identified that one of the companies involved is the Sunway Group, which Malaysiakini learnt is extending the offer to all Bandar Sunway tenants and employees.
"Sunway has been shortlisted to participate in the Vaccination Programme for Manufacturing and Related Services spearheaded by Miti.
"I am writing to you, as our valued tenant, to gauge your company’s interest in participating in the Manufacturing and Related Services Vaccination Programme. Outlined below is the programme details for your perusal," tenants of Sunway Geo shopping centre were told by the building’s manager on June 1.
Sunway Geo is a Sunway Group-managed building located in Bandar Sunway, Selangor.
According to the message, sighted by Malaysiakini, Sunway Group is extending the programme to all its tenants and their employees in Bandar Sunway - including firms not located in a shopping mall.
RM100 administration costs
The message stated that the vaccine administration cost to be charged to employers is still being reviewed, but is estimated to be RM50 per dose.
This means employers would have to pay approximately RM100 for each worker, as the Covid-19 vaccines that are currently used under NIP take two doses for complete immunisation.


Under the plan, only employees who work in Bandar Sunway can participate, and no interstate travel for vaccination is allowed under the initiative.
According to the message, Sunway Medical Convention Centre has been proposed to be the vaccination centre.
"This proposal is being reviewed and pending approval by Miti. The participants will be informed accordingly should there be a change in the venue," the message read.
Companies in Sunway Geo Avenue that are interested to participate were given until today to provide a list of their employees to the management.
Malaysiakini has contacted the Sunway Group, Miti, and the Covid-19 Vaccine Supply Access Guarantee Special Committee (JKJAV) for comments and further details.
As of the time of writing, only the Sunway Group has officially responded by saying that "there will be an announcement".
Sources in the government, meanwhile, confirmed that the pilot project has started but declined to elaborate.
One source indicated JKJAV will make an announcement soon, while another said a website for registering in this programme would be up by June 7.


"Details are still being worked out," said a government official who spoke on condition of anonymity.
'Cost too high for small businesses'
When contacted, Sunway Geo Avenue building manager Anna Zakaria said there has yet to be a date fixed for the inoculation exercise to start, but authorities had indicated they are targeting somewhere in the middle of June.
"They have not confirmed any date yet. They only requested us to do the listing, those who are interested to participate.
"On my part, I am only doing for my side which is the Sunway Geo Avenue. But this programme consists of all of Bandar Sunway area, including the mall areas like Sunway Geo Avenue, Sunway Pyramid, and Sunway Velocity," Anna said when contacted on Tuesday.
Anna said Sunway Geo Avenue alone has about 1,000 tenants.
As of Tuesday, the executive said tenants have yet to return their participation forms.
However, she speculated that numbers may not be high, as some companies had indicated they are not interested due to the cost.
"That is one of the reasons, because they have to pay per person RM100. If they have a budget for it, no problem.
"Some of the companies, the small ones, are not interested and just want to wait for the MySejahtera queue," she said, referring to the NIP where vaccination is provided free of charge by the government.
Pilot programme for large companies
In April, the Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers said Miti planned to roll out a public-private immunisation programme.
This would target workers of manufacturing and related services sectors, with employers having a minimum of 1,500 employees.
In this model, the government will cover the cost of vaccines but the companies will have to pay for administrative and logistical costs.
The pilot programme comes amid speculation that a Health Ministry partner, the BookDoc application, was offering companies on-site vaccination at a rate of RM100 per employee, for a minimum of 500 employees.
The Science, Technology, and Innovation Ministry which is overseeing the vaccination programme, declined to comment while BookDoc did not respond to Malaysiakini’s requests for comments.
However, when contacted, an employee at the BookDoc call centre said they are instructed to inform those calling to ask about the matter that the claims are “fake”. - Mkini

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