Malaysia’s ‘empty syringe’ incidents may fuel Covid-19 vaccine hesitancy, experts say
- The country’s Covid-19 task force is investigating incidents shared on social media of apparent underdosing and improperly administered shots
- Health officials warn such reports threaten to increase public suspicion about jabs and the vaccine roll-out programme, amid a recent surge in cases
The minister’s brief comments to the Berita Harian newspaper follow intense discussions on social media over videos purportedly showing staff at vaccination centres administering jabs with empty syringes.
On Monday, the country’s Covid-19 Immunisation Task Force (CITF) said it took the reports seriously and would investigate.
“If found guilty of such offences, the task force would not hesitate to terminate the services of those involved and take actions according to the provisions of the law,” it said in a statement.
Lim Chee Han, an infection biologist and senior researcher with the Malaysia-based policy group Third World Network, said the incidents were particularly noteworthy given reports that some of those tasked with administering vaccines were selling jabs on the black market.
“There are three incidents that were reported and one even provided video evidence, so this had led to further decline in public confidence and it indirectly increased public suspicion about getting vaccinated,” Lim said.
