1. Undocumented migrants in novel infectious outbreaks
‘Malaysia, sadly, is reaping the consequences of decades of corrupt mismanagement of the “supply chain” for foreign labour, viz. a persistently large pool of undocumented migrant workers, often in congested workplaces and dormitories, who have strong incentives to avoid contact with government agencies.
‘Already fearful of detection, arrest, and deportation in pre-pandemic times, undocumented migrants’ insecurities were exacerbated by the policy reversals of the Majlis Keselamatan Negara (MKN) and its contradictory messaging over an offer of temporary amnesty to facilitate Covid testing, contact tracing, isolation & treatment, and vaccination.
‘This deeply rooted problem with undocumented migrants, which persists despite repeated rounds of amnesties, will prolong our catastrophic experience with Covid-19 (and future pandemics as well).’
2. Local manufacture of vaccines
‘The major bottleneck was vaccine supply. The likelihood of further variants and endemic Covid emphasises the importance of local capacity for manufacturing vaccines and other pandemic essentials, as part of Malaysia’s pandemic preparedness.’
Read here (The Malay Mail, Sept 1, 2021)
