YOURSAY | ‘Can I give up my slot for my elderly parents who tried to get on the queue but could not?’

All AstraZeneca Covid-19 doses snapped up in less than 4 hours

Solo: Fears unfounded! Science, Technology, and Innovation Minister Khairy Jamaluddin thought many would be scared of the AstraZeneca vaccine, but people in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor have responded soundly that we want the vaccine.

With about 270,000 doses, mathematically, there may be two or three cases of blood clots and no deaths if everyone is alert.

If that is suspected, seek medical care. Treatment is with oral anticoagulant or IVIG (intravenous immunoglobulin). Do not use IV (intravenous) heparin since this blood clot and low platelet condition mimics heparin induced thrombocytopenia (HIT).

Now, can we get voluntary appointments for Sinovac and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines too? Many are cautious about the Chinese vaccine because there are no independent and verifiable data on them.

I will follow the data when Sinovac is rolled out here because in a pandemic you need all the vaccines you can get your hands on. Don’t hesitate, vaccinate.

Blue Ocean: Congratulations to KJ (Khairy) for this out-of-the-box strategy. I hope this will be motivation to devise creative alternatives to get more folks to line up to get vaccinated quickly.

When people are given a choice of the vaccine, there will be less hesitation and fear.

The Fog Of Life: Kudos to the government for coming up with the idea of allowing voluntary signup for the AstraZeneca vaccination, deals with the concerns that some have with potential side effects, saves the vaccinations from wastage and allows for early vaccination for those who signed up.

I got into the site around 1pm and getting a slot took around a minute. Repeated it four times for the family and each one was the same. Simple and fast.

Iphonezours: It’s good that the take-up of AstraZeneca has been fully subscribed. Despite the negative news, at the least, those who applied are fully aware that its benefits outweigh the issues.

Now that the subsequent batches will be offered to other states, hopefully the take-up would also be the same. As for Sarawak, they should be offered again and let the people decide themselves.

Cancan: I am 61 and my dad is 89. I managed to book two slots on May 6 at Universiti Malaya (UM).

I logged on exactly at noon and within three minutes all May 5 slots were gone at UM. I quickly switched to May 6 and success! Phew, that was stressful.

Newday: This 62-year-old tried and tried, and tried, but no - all were booked out. However, my 20-year-old son, who does not live at home, and all his housemates managed to get a booking.

They are more at risk of developing blood clots and have lower risk for severe Covid-19 infection, while my wife and I have lower blood clot risks and are certain to suffer more serious symptoms if infected with Covid-19, leading to hospitalisation.

Where are the bookings reserved for seniors? What to do now?

Anonymous 7788: We now have a situation where the younger and least vulnerable to serious symptoms from Covid-19 have a firm date with AstraZeneca (with higher risk of developing blood clots) while the elderly and more vulnerable (but lower risk of developing clots) are still in limbo without a firm date for Pfizer/Sinovac.

Can I give up my slot for my elderly parents who tried to get on the queue but could not?

Et Cetera: Indeed, the older age groups should have been prioritised since blood clots are more prevalent among the young. Also, the death rate from Covid-19 is much higher for the old.

With that, we would probably be on track for inoculation following triage. That would have been a win-win scenario. Almost there KJ, almost there.

Falcon: KJ, there is a pandemic. Many vulnerable groups (60 and above) have yet to get their vaccine though they have registered in February.

The manner that this exercise was carried out, like a “lottery”, shows a serious gap and an abuse of the process when it could have been better managed and administered with the vulnerable groups in mind.

A fast track for senior citizens who desire to opt in should have been facilitated through the same system that was set up instead of another.

I am aware you are not a medical doctor, neither an epidemiologist or a member of the Health Ministry, but a politician.

My peers and I cannot but shudder with disbelief and sadness at what we are seeing and experiencing in public policy initiatives and deliberations which shows double standards, recklessness and insensitivity. Thought you were different but we were wrong.

Abcd: With many of the AstraZeneca vaccination centres located at the universities, can the government give the breakdown of how many university students registered for the jabs?

The slots at certain locations seemed to have been snapped up more quickly. If the number is shown to be high, it is unreasonable to allow others to compete against the more vulnerable above 60 group for the vaccine on a first-come-first-serve basis.

Before some of the senior folks can react, all the shots taken up already.

Mantis: KJ, the strategy of getting the rakyat to sign up for the AstraZeneca vaccine is a success. So, please extend this to the Pfizer and Sinovac vaccines.

In this way, you will find more and more people responding instead of lagging behind in registration. This is how the movement to get the rakyat vaccinated should work.

The Wakandan: Thank you, KJ, for making the vaccine available through voluntary participation. It is good for those with second thoughts about this vaccine to see how this first batch will turn out.

We need the vaccine, it is a matter of which but our country is rather slow with it. Ideally, if the people can choose their vaccine, that will be the best, but once we reach herd immunity, then hopefully the pandemic will be behind us.

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