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KUALA LUMPUR (May 20): A coalition of shopping mall and retail associations have called upon the Selangor government to not charge businesses for vaccinating their employees against Covid-19.

In a joint statement, the Malaysia Shopping Malls Association, Malaysia Retailers Association, Malaysia Retail Chain Association, and Bumiputra Retailers Organisation said they are very supportive of Selangor State Development Corp’s (PKNS) efforts to vaccinate the state’s populace via Selgate Healthcare Sdn Bhd, but they are not in favour of being charged.

“We are given to understand that the Selgate programme will charge businesses for the vaccinations which are supposed to be funded by and provided on a complimentary basis to both Malaysian citizens and non-citizens alike.

“This would be contrary to the original commitment and intent previously declared by our federal government,” the press statement read.

According to the statement, the Selangor state government had announced that RM100 million will be allocated for this vaccination programme, which will charge RM380 per course.

“The RM380 per course charge by itself appears to be exorbitant as the global cost of vaccines is widely published and known in the public domain.

“The main objective is to explore all avenues to source adequate supply and ramp up the vaccination and we are confident our rakyat should not have any qualms for the authorities to draw from the state’s financial resources to achieve this.

“After all, the funds are from the taxpayers and expending for a just cause is acceptable,” the associations said.

The associations asserted that they will support a parallel programme to increase the inoculation processes in the country, but firmly pushed that vaccinations must be free to follow the original commitment and intent the state government put forward.

“In our earnestness to speed up the vaccination process, shopping malls and retail businesses have proposed that vaccinations be carried out on-site for more efficiency.

“We are glad that the Ministry of Science Technology and Innovation (MOSTI) has heeded our plea and are currently discussing the programme with business owners to sponsor venues and provide any logistics for onsite vaccination centres,” the associations disclosed.

Source: https://www.theedgemarkets.com/article/shopping-mall-and-retail-associations-urge-selangor-not-charge-businesses-covid19-vaccines