All Foreign Workers Across The Board Will Be Vaccinated
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According to Human Resources Minister Datuk Seri M. Saravanan, all foreign workers who are registered and hold legal documents to work in this country will be administered a COVID-19 vaccine to ensure safety.
The minister said it would still be an obstacle, as many foreign workers do not possess any document that could qualify them to sign up for COVID-19 vaccination.
He said that the government has acknowledged that all foreign workers across the board should be vaccinated as it has been agreed that nobody is safe until everyone is safe when it comes to COVID-19.
"But, there is a problem in reaching out to those without legal documents, and it would then defeat the purpose and the saying," Saravanan said.
He mentioned that the Ministry of Home Affairs would hold a meeting to discuss how they will handle the situation.
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All registered foreign workers will be administered the COVID-19 vaccine.
"We will then finalise the mechanism which will be used for foreign workers who are not in the registry or possessing any documents," he said.
Based on the Malaysian Reserve report, foreign workers face logistical limitations that have caused employers to miss the March 31 deadline for all workers to be tested for COVID-19.
The Malaysian Employers' Federation (MEF) stated that it would better for the government to concentrate on the future of vaccination instead of focusing on the foreign workers' screening and implementing the non-renewal of the workers' passes.
Government's stance on foreign workers' vaccination
On February 12, 2021, the cabinet agreed that the vaccination programme would include non-citizens living in Malaysia.
The government has also agreed in principle to give out free vaccination to undocumented foreign workers as the committee looks into how they can implement it.
During the cabinet meeting, the ministers decided that it was not only the right thing to do, but it is practical to achieve herd community.
The committee said that it decided so after considering the existence of large clusters in particular economic sectors that included foreign workers.
It added that giving access to the vaccine for all, including foreigners, is in line with the National COVID-19 Immunisation Programme's theme of "Protect Self, Protect All".
"A safe Covid-19 environment can only be achieved if most residents of Malaysia are vaccinated," it said.
In September 2020, the Human Resources Ministry said that Malaysia currently hosts about 2.1 million documented foreign workers, representing about 14% of the domestic labour force.
Low salary for fresh graduates
On the issue of low salary offered to fresh graduates (RM1,000 to RM1,500), Saravanan said the pandemic-induced economic downturn is one of the factors that caused the decrease in wage.
He said the government never altered the minimum salary of RM1,200, yet, some employers are still offering jobs to the unemployed, albeit with lower benefits and offerings.
He suggested that they should accept the offered salary instead of being unemployed. He added that as of now, the employers and employees should discuss the issue.
Sources: The Malaysian Reserve & The Star
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