It was an eventful day at UTAR Kampar Campus as the Covid-19 Drive-through Vaccination programme parked under the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme (NIP) officially kick-started on 21 June 2021. More than 200 volunteers, consisting of UTAR staff, UTAR students, medical staff and the public, were mobilised for this programme.

The volunteers from UTAR were recruited under UTAR’s Department of Student Affairs (DSA) to assist in the NIP with the aim to support the government in ensuring as many people get vaccinated per day, and achieving herd immunity. The programme went on smoothly, with everyone complying with the safety standard operating procedures (SOPs) set by the government.

UTAR Vice President for Student Development and Alumni Relations-cum-coordinator of Covid-19 Drive-through Vaccination Centre in Kampar Campus under the NIP Prof Dr Choong Chee Keong enthused, “As UTAR was founded by the bedrock principle of “by the people, for the people”, it has always been at the forefront of giving back to the community via social responsibility projects and initiatives. Among such initiatives and activities include the Covid-19 Drive-through Vaccination Centre in Kampar Campus to assist the government to administer vaccines to the public. In an effort of the government to achieve herd immunity soon, UTAR is glad to be part of the Covid-19 NIP drive-through method to speed up the vaccination process.”

He also added, “Thank you to our volunteers from Pejabat Kesihatan Daerah Kampar, UTAR staff, students and alumni, Tzu Chi International Medical Association (TIMA) and Buddha's Light International Association (BLIA) Malaysia Chapter for making the Covid-19 drive-through vaccination programme a success in Kampar Campus.”

Adding to Prof Choong’s statement, UTAR Department of Estate and Facilities (Kampar Campus) Head Ir Abdul Majid bin Mohd Gani said, “UTAR Kampar Campus has been part of the Kampar community ever since Phase 1A started in 2002. Since then, the University has grown together with this former tin-mining town. The current Covid-19 drive-through vaccination programme is another project that UTAR has embarked to bring benefit to the people of Kampar and its surrounding, besides fostering and strengthening its ties with the community. I am happy that together with UTAR, we can do this. I am happy to be a part of something that can help the people of Kampar and its surrounding areas.” 

Ir Majid added, “For this project, UTAR has provided resources, human as well as facilities. Many are volunteers and UTAR staff, as always, have shown great teamwork. Working together with the government medical team, we have been excellent at responding to challenges such as lack of equipment, space constraint, lack of qualified medical personnel and some last-minute requests. This is a good endeavour and shows the compassionate side of UTAR.”

UTAR Department of Safety and Security (Kampar Campus) Head Wong Kean Loong said, “First of all, I am pleased to be a part of the organising team for Covid-19 Drive-through Vaccination Centre in Kampar Campus under the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme. UTAR’s involvement as Drive-through Vaccination Centre in Kampar helps the local authorities to speed up the vaccination process. It is also in line with the government’s vision to achieve herd immunity as soon as possible. The drive-through concept facilitates elderly folks with mobility problems and those on wheelchairs. Furthermore, it reduces the transmission of the disease and the formation of new clusters. Finally, this is a great opportunity for UTAR staff members to work closely with the Ministry of Health and share their experiences in handling the disease. Since this is a long-term assignment, I hope more volunteers from individuals or NGOs will come forward to assist and support the programme.”

UTAR Registrar’s Office Assistant Manager Yeow Sze Min added, “As part of the organising team, it was truly an exciting yet tiring experience to set up this Covid-19 Drive-through Vaccination Centre in Kampar Campus within a short period. We are honoured to receive an overwhelming support from UTAR staff and students as well as medical and non-medical volunteers from charity organisations such as Tzu Chi International Medical Association (TIMA), Buddha's Light International Association (BLIA) and Lion Clubs of Ipoh Midtown. We would also like to thank the generosity of Grand Kampar for providing the meals, accommodation and transportation for our volunteers. Nevertheless, this is just the first step of a journey of a thousand miles. As our volunteer teams grow and more vaccines are made available, we will target to scale up the vaccination centre to get more people to be vaccinated in a faster time and thus achieve herd immunity as soon as possible.”

On the other hand, one of the staff volunteers from UTAR Centre for Corporate and Community Development Mohd Izad Ismat bin Mohd Said enthused, “I feel good by being a volunteer at the Covid-19 Drive-through Vaccination Centre in Kampar Campus. As a Kamparian, this is a golden opportunity for me to be part of the programme to promote awareness about Covid-19 vaccination to people from Kampar and its surroundings. It also acts as a platform for me to work together with colleagues from different departments as well as with UTAR staff and students after so long.”

Meanwhile, Office Assistant of UTAR Main Library R. Narsh shared, “I am happy to be involved in the Covid-19 Drive-through Vaccination Programme. This is indeed a rare opportunity for an ordinary citizen like me and I am feeling proud to be part of the national effort in combating the pandemic together. I hope through this programme, more and more people would be vaccinated and they will have better protection against the virus.”

Feeling proud to play a part in the vaccination programme, a student volunteer from UTAR Faculty of Science, Master of Science student Liew Jin Rou, said, “I feel happy to be part of this meaningful project. Through this programme, I’m able to occupy my time with a valuable activity. I also hope that we can achieve herd immunity as soon as possible. Therefore, I wish all of us can stand together to fight against the pandemic and bring down the number of infections.” When asked about the challenges she overcame during the volunteering programme, Liew added, “It was a bit challenging since it was my first time volunteering in such an important programme. At first, I felt a bit nervous to deal with the vaccination details and documents since they involved human life and safety. However, as time went by the nervousness subsided and I became stronger and more careful in carrying my duties. It is indeed a good opportunity and I am happy to be able to become a volunteer for this programme.”

Another student volunteer from the Faculty of Engineering and Green Technology, Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) Environmental Engineering student S. Sivamegan, said, “In all honesty, everything about the vaccination drive-through programme was organised well which made my experience as a volunteer better in a way where I had my duty assigned and I had to only do that throughout the day and not juggle anything else in between which made me more efficient in serving the programme. The only thing that I had to frown upon was the blistering heat throughout the programme. I was put on duty to ask the vaccine receivers about their well-being based on a list of criteria that I was handed, so this had me engaging in conversations to attain the information needed which taught me how to check on someone or what to check on someone after receiving the vaccine. Also, after being indoors for so long, finally engaging in volunteering work taught me  how to value productive times like this.”

Aimed to assist the government to administer vaccines to the public, the Covid-19 Drive-through Vaccination Centre in Kampar Campus under the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme was held in collaboration with UTAR and Pejabat Kesihatan Daerah Kampar. UTAR Kampar Campus started its operation as a drive-through vaccination centre for the second dose of Covid-19 vaccination starting from 21 June 2021 at its Dewan Tun Dr Ling Liong Sik. For the first day, the number of vaccination doses administered was 40 and the second day was 80. This number will be increased to 120 vaccination per day soon.

UTAR has also been involved in the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme by supporting and collaborating with Sungai Long Specialist Hospital, which has been approved by Protect Health and MOH to provide Covid-19 vaccination. UTAR Sungai Long Campus in Selangor state has started its operation as a vaccination centre starting from 31 May 2021 at the Multipurpose Hall of UTAR, Sungai Long Campus. For the first week, the number of vaccination doses administered was 400 per day. This number will be increased to 1,000 vaccination per day soon.