The Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC) wants the government to vaccinate the 26.5 million Malaysians first before paying attention to foreigners.
However, the Malaysian Employers Federation (MEF) said it was vital to vaccinate foreign workers first, especially those from the manufacturing and construction sectors.
According to a Sinar Harian report, MTUC secretary-general Kamarul Baharin Mansor said while they fully supported the government’s initiative to vaccinate foreigners to control the spread of Covid-19, Malaysians must be given priority and should not come second.
“We do not deny that the Covid-19 vaccines be given free to foreign workers, especially those in the manufacturing and construction sectors, as many clusters originated from them.
“However, we urge the government to take care of the welfare of Malaysians first. They should all be vaccinated first.”
He was commenting on the government’s decision to vaccinate all foreigners free of charge and simultaneously with locals.
Science, technology and innovation minister Khairy Jamaluddin said undocumented migrant workers too would not be left out.
According to official statistics, there are an estimated 2.3 million documented migrant workers but there are reportedly a few more million without valid papers.
Disagreeing with this view, MEF executive director Shamsuddin Bardan said it was important for the simultaneous vaccination of these two groups because foreign workers had been classified as a high-risk category in the spread of Covid-19.
“If they are going to be given vaccines at the end of the programme, more Malaysians may end up being infected by Covid-19 from this group of workers.
“About 60% of new clusters are from the working class, with the source being mostly foreign workers. And they were infected at their workplace.
“Given that their lifestyle is not organised, with limited access to medical care, they are in the higher-risk category compared to locals,” he said.
In fact, he said, the faster these foreigners are vaccinated, the better it would be for Malaysians.
“We also hope the government will issue a special card to these workers to show that they have been vaccinated against Covid-19 to facilitate their easy and safe movement.”