Increased allowance for health volunteers timely morale booster

According Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) student, Mohd Shazwan Abdul Ghani, 22, the increased allowance was welcome news and an incentive to youths like him to handle their duties with more dedication.

"I feel happy and it is an acknowledgment of the volunteers by the government, and will spur us to be more active in volunteer activities. I will save this up for the future, and use it for my studies.

"This initiative will likely attract more individuals to become health volunteers and contribute their skills and energy to help efforts to stop the spread of COVID-19 and speed up the vaccination process," he said when met at the vaccination centre at Dewan Muafakat Bukit Gambir, near here on Tuesday.

The Malaysia Vaccine Support Volunteers (MyVac) team member has been helping out since April and said his participation in volunteer activities has brought him closer to society in general and helped reduce the burden borne by medical staff at the centre.

Civil servant Mohd Fahmi Ali, 33, viewed the announcement as an unexpected bonus and proof of the government's concern towards the welfare of volunteers who have given so much of their time and energy.

"When I first joined the frontliners, I was proud to see their indomitable spirit shining even though they were physically tired. They kept giving their all to society. That was what inspired me to become a health volunteer.

"Actually money can't be a measure... but, I am still glad for this goodwill payment and as a volunteer, I will do my best and help the country achieve herd immunity. After all, I have loved helping out since I was young," the fellow MyVac volunteer said.

Yesterday, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin announced an increase in the goodwill payment for health volunteers to RM100 a day compared to RM50 previously in view of their contributions.

The payment will begin this month, involving 19,000 volunteers on duty over 12 hours with an additional allocation totaling RM180 million, and will be given to all health volunteers working on the field.