General Practitioner

The decision to halt the involvement of private general practitioners in the National COVID-19 Immunisation Programme (PICK) in the Klang Valley is only temporary.

Only 2,467 general practitioners (GPs) have applied to be involved in the National COVID-19 Immunisation Programme.

The government is targeting to designate 1,000 general practitioner (GP) clinics and private hospitals as vaccination centres (PPVs), to start administering vaccines before June 30.

Kementerian Kesihatan (KKM) melantik syarikat yang telah diperbadankan itu sebagai pelaksana penglibatan GP dalam inisiatif tersebut.

In its plans, the government should also prioritise locations with dense populations as they carry higher risk of COVID-19 transmissions, said Prof Datuk Dr Subramaniam Muniandy.

She developed symptoms while at work on Jan 3, and sought medical treatment at a general practitioner clinic two days later.

MMA president Prof Datuk Dr M Subramaniam said the current SOP, where COVID-19 positive samples need to be sent to admitting hospitals, also caused delays and an increase in red tape.

Health practitioners in both private and public health facilities need to undergo the necessary training to perform the procedure competently and safely.

General practitioners have called for a nationwide boycott and suspension of cashless services to all Etiqa panels.