I’ve got a tale to tell about two very different standards in COVID-19 vaccination procedures. It’ll be centred on the actual receiving of the dose rather than the administrative process before and after, which was superb on both sides. In this tale, both centres administered Sinovac.
I got my appointment at Bukit Jalil National Stadium. A doctor took out the vial from a cooler box, showed me the vial itself, took time to explain the labels, and showed that it was a full vial. She then told me that only 0.5ml would be used, meaning 1 vial is for 2 doses. She then went on to extract the vaccine from the vial, showed me the loaded syringe and wanted my acknowledgment that 0.5ml is indeed in the syringe. After I received my dose, she showed me an empty syringe as proof that the vaccine has indeed been administered. Very good and proper.
My father received his appointment at the vaccination centre at a vaccination centre in Selangor that I shall not name. When he got to the injection station, there were several syringes pre-loaded, lined up, and ready to go. It was a very fast process – get jabbed and go (of course there’s also the process of using alcohol to disinfect where the needle penetrates, applying cotton and tape too, in both places). My father questioned the person administering (who was not a doctor, but likely a volunteer who was taught how to administer an injection) why the vaccine wasn’t drawn from a vial in front of the patient, arguing that this could be abused and they could have put in any form of substance like saline solution or even sugar water.
Their response was “why would we want to cheat you?”.
I could think of a hundred hypothetical scenarios. To swap the real vaccines to be sold outside illegally? Perhaps there were vials damaged and each centre has strict quotas or deadlines to meet? There is simply too much room for questioning.
Instances of malpractices are certainly possible. We are already seeing accusations that an empty syringe was administered at another vaccination centre and reports that insiders with access to MySejahtera’s backend are selling slots between RM300-RM380 to individuals hoping to speed up their appointments. While a majority of volunteers are honest, there could be a few bad apples looking to take advantage of the system.
After my first dose, I commended my doctor saying that it was good that she took the effort to show me the process in detail. Interestingly, she said that they were all supposed to.
These differences in the procedure for the two vaccination centres is quite alarming. But perhaps the differences in process don’t matter? It would be best for public officials to explain the actual process. Do the vaccines need to be kept cold? Are they supposed to show us the vial, syringe, etc? What is the actual process supposed to be? While the procedures are clear for the AstraZeneca vaccines (they need to show the syringe), it is unclear if this only applies to AstraZeneca or it is also meant for all vaccines. Communication and education in this area is somewhat lacking.
We have sent two emails to the COVID-19 Immunisation Task Force, reporting what happened and sought an explanation, but have not heard back from them in over 3 weeks.
While the procedures at the this particular vaccination centre was probably intended to speed up the process, there are some things that should be done diligently, even if it takes a longer time. To be fair, during my father’s second dose, while the syringes were preloaded once again, he requested that they draw a fresh vaccine from the vial in front of him and they obliged. Yet, it is uncertain what the injection procedures are in other centres, but the fact remains that there seems to be more than one.
It also didn’t help that the this particular vaccination centre didn’t allow the taking of any photographs or videos while some centres welcome you to document the entire process. This only creates bigger distrust. In my personal opinion, places that do not allow you to record what is essentially a harmless process always have something to hide for fear that there will be evidence used against them.
Rather than making us all guess and speculate, I urge the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MOSTI) officials to give an explanation and set a single standard operating procedure for all vaccination centres to crush any doubt of malpractice or cutting of corners. They should also investigate vaccination centres that have these “hastened procedures” to determine if malpractices have indeed occurred. To deter any questionable practices, all vaccine centres should allow the vaccine administering process to be recorded. Don’t leave it to chance that all vaccinators are angels. If it turns out that some people have been given false doses, it would mean that their health, and everyone else’s, is very much at risk. While we are most grateful for the vaccination programme, the government must look seriously into instilling better best practices in the programme for the safety and longevity of fellow Malaysians.
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