Don’t deny right to choose vaccine

 Published in The Sun, 22nd Feb. 2021

Amidst the rush to get ourselves vaccinated against the corona virus, many are wondering why is it that we the taxpayers are denied the right to choose the type of vaccine we prefer. Is it not a tenet of democracy that we should have this right of choice? Maybe both the legal experts and the medical professionals can weigh in with their views and enlighten the public? We heard that in some countries, Republic of Serbia for one, people there actually have a choice of which vaccine they prefer to be inoculated with.

Perhaps this is also an opportune time for the Malaysian government to carry out a survey to find out which vaccine is preferred by the rakyat of Malaysia. This can be easily incorporated into the registration process, whether in MySejahtera or other platforms. We also believe that this whole exercise of vaccination should be carried out with absolute transparency, making public details such as the distribution of the different vaccines by phases, and by states in the country. In this context, needless to say, we are particularly interested to know what kind of vaccine all the ministers --  especially those who were involved in vaccine procurement -- will be receiving, for the sake of accountability, if nothing else. Last but not least, as recipients of the vaccine, we would like to know if the authority will inform us about which vaccine we are receiving, before we turn up for the vaccination.