“We want guidance!” M’sian Mother Starts Petition After Vaccine Questions Go Unanswered

These mothers want an answer for their predicament now!

A week ago, the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme Committee announced that Pfizer is the best vaccine for pregnant women (14-33 weeks) and breastfeeding mothers while Sinovac and AstraZeneca are not recommended as of now. A pregnant mother who goes by the name of Liyana and many other mothers had questions about the next steps they should take and took to the comment section of JKJAV’s Instagram post to ask their queries. However, their questions were left unanswered.

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Insistent on having her questions answered, Liyana started a petition on change.org to demand answers from the government especially after she sighted a recent posting by a frontliner who mentioned that a Covid-19 patient who was 30-weeks pregnant had a stillborn baby. Speaking to WORLD OF BUZZ, Liyana said that she has to get vaccinated for the safety of her baby especially with the emergence of the new variants.

For illustration purposes only.

“I started to consider whether I should apply for AZ that is opening on 26 May. But with not enough information provided by the government, I couldn’t make an informed decision.”

Despite being vocal on her social media platforms regarding her predicament, Liyana was going nowhere. Thus, Liyana decided to start a petition in hopes of getting the attention of the authorities.

The demands of Liyana and other pregnant or breastfeeding mothers are simple, they just want clear guidance, clarity on the process, timing and comprehensive FAQs that they can easily refer to.

“Do we wait for Pfizer? When will it be? But MySejahtera questionnaire does not ask about pregnancy and lactations, does the Government know how much to allocate for us? Should we just sign up for Astra Zeneca? The list of questions goes on.”

Liyana also wished the government had put a little more thought on high-risk groups from the beginning but it has been a few months, yet they still do not have clear guidance for pregnant and breastfeeding women. Kulai MP, Teo Nee Ching, and Bakri MP, Yeo Bee Yin, have also lent their support to the cause and urge Malaysians to sign the petition.

You can view and sign Liyana’s petition here.

If you’re currently pregnant or breastfeeding, how have you been coping with the vaccination process? Let us know in the comments section!

UPDATE 1: Minister of Science, Technology, and Innovation, Khairy Jamaluddin, announced in a press conference today (25 May) that a new feature will be introduced in the MySejahtera application by the end of this week to identify pregnant and breastfeeding mothers for their vaccination appointments.

Also read: KJ: AstraZeneca & Sinovac Vaccines Not Advisable For Pregnant Women