KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia, whose outcome of the battle with Covid-19 had at one point looked promising, is beginning to lose its balance between prioritising public health and saving the country's economy.
Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein, in saying this, said he had noticed the changes as the nation marked the 450th day of efforts to combat the virus.
"Today, after more than 450 days – we must look back on what we have done and think about its justification.
"What was described as 'unknown' last year is no longer a total mystery. Our focus previously was to strike a balance between lives and livelihood, which is our priority.
"However, as the days unfolded, we are starting to lose balance between prioritising public health and the importance of the (country's) economy," Hishammuddin, who is also the Sembrong member of Parliament, wrote in a blog post.
Hishammuddin outlined three proposals that the government needs to focus on to get the country out of the present situation, which he described as a 'pandemic paradox.'
These, he said, included the need for the government to learn from its past mistakes, including the standard operating procedures (SOP) enforced throughout the implementation of the ongoing Movement Control Order (MCO3.0).
Hishammuddin said there should no longer be any changes in the SOP and that the guidelines must remain consistent.
"Unnecessary changes which are deemed reactionary will only dampen the progress that we have achieved now," he said.
He also highlighted the need to accelerate the country's mass vaccination drive through the diversification (increasing the portfolios) of the types of Covid-19 vaccines under the Covid-19 National Immunisation Programme (NIP).
He said some countries, such as the United Kingdom and the United States, have managed to lessen the fear among its people over Covid-19 following the acceleration of their respective inoculation drives.
He said this has subsequently helped the people move forward with confidence and imbue them with a positive mindset.
"As of now, Malaysia (through the National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency) has only approved the Pfizer, Sinovac and AstraZeneca vaccines for public usage.
"This is in contrast with the measures adopted by other countries which had approved other vaccines for their vaccination programmes.
"The World Health Organisation (WHO) has listed the Johnson & Johnson, Moderna and Sinopharm vaccines for emergency use around the world. I am sure the global health body is not wrong (when approving the vaccines for emergency use)," he said.
He also highlighted the need to conduct Covid-19 mass screenings on a larger scale as proposed by many politicians and health experts.
"This will allow us to screen, identify and isolate people who are positive for the virus at a faster scale, subsequently enabling the country to better manage the pandemic.
"This, however, requires proper planning via either increasing the capacity of our labs, increasing the supply of Covid-19 testing kits or providing subsidies (for people or companies) to conduct screenings," he said.
Hishammuddin also stressed on the need for the government to reduce bureaucracy which, he said, had become the main factor preventing Malaysia from receiving assistance offered by other countries.
"The assistance should be accepted with sincerity and not reluctance. Rejecting or accepting this offer will also affect us at the Foreign Ministry.
"If the assistance is not accepted in earnest, this will risk affecting diplomatic relations (between Malaysia and other countries) or worse, affect the country's integrity on the international stage.
"And I think this is not a risk that we should consider," he said.