With the rapid evolvement of the national vaccination program, it is no doubt a success achieved in an effort to combat Covid-19. Currently, 28.3% of Malaysia’s population is fully vaccinated — a far cry from the nation’s projected percentage of herd immunity which is 80%! With the introduction of three types of vaccines – namely, Sinovac, Pfizer and Astrazeneca – we would definitely hit the percentage in due time. Now, when it comes to the topic of fully vaccinated individuals, they might probably be yearning to leave their houses anytime soon.
After all, they’ve been vaccinated right?
Well, till the nation has reached a herd immunity of 80%, none of us are safe yet! Therefore, fully vaccinated individuals should also stay at home till we’ve reached the herd immunity. Recently, the government has released the relaxation of SOPs for individuals who’ve completed their vaccination, especially, those from Phase 2 of the National Recovery Program. While many health experts have criticised this move done by the government, people in the states involved, are definitely looking forward to be able to lead a normal life, at last!
However, there are indeed some individuals who are taking advantage of this situation by selling card-like, digital vaccination certificates. This irresponsible move was shared by the Head of Obstetrics and Gynaecology Department in the Sultanah Bahiyah Alor Setar Hospital, Datuk Dr. Mohd Rushdan Mohd Noor on his personal Facebook page. These certificates are reportedly being sold on social media pages for RM15 each and these fake certificates would also include the full name of the buyer. From the looks of it, these fake certificates look absolutely real.
Following this, many individuals have been concerned about this act and have questioned the authorities’ way of figuring out whether those certificates are real or fake. Well, the authorities should actually verify the legitimacy of the certificate by scanning the QR code on it. This might be an issue when the authorities experience a difficult time in doing a further investigation regarding the certificate. This might be due to the lack of apparatus to scan or the heavy traffic jams that might occur if this was done on the road.
Kedah’s Head of Police, Datuk Kamarul Zaman Mamat has stated that a report was made regarding a digital vaccination certificate sale making its rounds lately. The report was received around 9:44am yesterday. If the individual is found guilty, he or she would face a fine of not more than RM100,000 or jailed for not longer than 7 years or even both!
Nevertheless, it is extremely important to stay cautious at all times and to not fall for scams as such. Instead of buying fake digital certificates, why not channel that energy into getting vaccinated and protect yourself and your loved ones?
Source: Lobak Merah
