Amid “Under-Dosing” Complaints, Medical Personnel Now Must Show Recipients Covid-19 Vaccine Syringe

By Karissa Lund  •  24 May 2021 in News

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According to Malaysiakini, a directive has been issued to medical personnel assisting in the Covid-19 vaccination efforts under ProtectHealth Malaysia to show recipients the syringe filled with Covid-19 vaccine in it.

This comes amid complaints that some medical personnel had drawn an erroneous amount of the vaccine in the AstraZeneca voluntary programme, leading to underdosing.

The news portal stated that it had sighted a message informing all those tasked with administering the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine to show the filled syringe to the recipient before vaccination as well as the emptied syringe afterwards. The message also said that the correct volume – which is 0.5ml – must be shown to the recipient.

The report also quoted a Health Ministry officer as confirming that the directive was authentic.

ICYMI, marketer Anoogrehan Manoharan first raised the “underdose” issue when watching back a video he took of himself during the AstraZeneca vaccination process on 19 May. He shared the clip on social media platforms and claimed that he did not receive the full dose of the vaccine.

Fortunately for him, BP Healthcare reviewed his complaints and he has been re-vaccinated on 23 May.

Besides Anoogrehan, two other Malaysians also took to social media to say they suspected that they had been given less than the required 0.5ml dosage.

On 20 May, the government’s Covid-19 Immunisation Task Force (CITF) assured that they are conducting a detailed investigation on these allegations.

CITF emphasised that they always prioritise the service quality of all health experts involved under the National COVID-19 Immunisation Programme (NIP) including private medical practitioners managed by ProtectHealth Corporation Sdn Bhd who are involved in NIP.

Those who believe they received an insufficient AstraZeneca dose can approach the Health Ministry’s ProtectHealth Corporation for redress. There are three ways to contact the corporation:

Via phone 03 8687 2525 or 03 8687 2588
Via email  [email protected]
Via ProtectHealth’s social media platforms on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram