Govt' has decided not to proceed with PROTEK - Saravanan

KUALA LUMPUR: The government has decided not to proceed with Program Vaksinasi Tenaga Kerja Nasional (PROTEK), the COVID-19 vaccination program for private companies, the Dewan Rakyat was told today.

Human Resource Minister Datuk Seri M. Saravanan said the decision followed the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MOSTI) allowing employees to get their vaccine jabs by the walk-in method from Aug 1.

"Many employers in the country have responded to MOSTI's call and sent their employees to the Vaccination Centres (PPV) directly. As such, the Ministry of Human Resources (KSM) decided not to continue with PROTEK," he said during the question-and-answer session.

He was replying to a question from M. Kulasegaran (PH-Ipoh Barat) who asked for an explanation as to why the need for PROTEK when the government had allocated RM5 billion for vaccination which is said can cover the needs of 110 per cent of the population.

Saravanan said initially the ministry together with the Human Resource Development Corporation (HRDC) implemented PROTEK as companies wanted to speed up vaccination of their employees.

He said the programme offered an option to employers who volunteered to speed up the process of vaccinating employees to achieve faster herd immunity involving their workforce.

-- BERNAMA