KUALA LUMPUR, May 25 — The government has allocated sufficient supplies of Covid-19 vaccines for “all judges” in the country and recognises them to be “frontliners” in the Covid-19 pandemic, Datuk Seri Takiyuddin Hassan said today.
The minister in charge of law and Parliament said the Covid-19 vaccination of judges would start on May 31.
“As a start, the Federal Court and Court of Appeal judges will receive vaccination on May 31, 2021, led by the Chief Justice of Malaysia,” he said in a statement.
“The Law Minister’s Office is also arranging for all High Court, Sessions Court judges and magistrates to be administered with the vaccine in their states with the cooperation of the respective state governments and state health departments,” he added.
“The government considers judges and court officials as frontliners due to their duties that are in direct contact with the public. With the administration of the vaccines, it is hoped that it would reduce the risk of their exposure to the Covid-19 virus,” he concluded.
Takiyuddin’s statement comes just a day after Malaysian Bar president AG Kalidas’s statement yesterday.
The Malaysian Bar had yesterday said it had as early as the end of March 2021 wrote to the government to ask for priority in Covid-19 vaccination of lawyers, judges and those in the judicial and legal services, to ensure justice be delivered swiftly and safeguard the rights of Malaysians and due to their role in the economy.
The Malaysian Bar pointed out that lawyers may face a higher risk of contracting the Covid-19 virus when providing legal representation in criminal cases to individuals brought in from prison or detention centres, due to the inmates’ living conditions which may be a hotbed for transmission.
“Judges and judicial and legal officers also face a heightened risk of contracting the virus due to the front-facing nature of their jobs,” the Malaysian Bar had said.
“Lawyers also work closely with other agencies such as Land Offices, Inland Revenue Board, Companies Commission of Malaysia and various government and local authorities, and have an indispensable role to play in the economy of the country,” it had said.
Yesterday, High Court judge Datuk Seri Mohd Firuz Jaffril was reported remarking in court proceedings that court staff should be regarded as frontliners and be given priority to receive Covid-19 vaccination.
Late last month, Federal Court judge Datuk Seri Mohd Zawawi Salleh was reported to have been appointed as the acting Chief Judge of Malaya, as Chief Judge of Malaya Tan Sri Azahar Mohamed was admitted to the hospital after being infected with Covid-19.
A news report earlier this month by local daily The Star said Azahar had been released from critical care at the hospital and was recuperating at home.
The first Covid-19 vaccination in Malaysia was administered on February 24 on Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, which kickstarted the country’s national Covid-19 immunisation programme.
Under Malaysia’s National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme, the three phases of Covid-19 immunisation that were initially outlined are — targeted vaccination of 500,000 frontliners (February to April 2021), 9.4 million frontliners and high-risk groups such as senior citizens or those with chronic illnesses and persons with disabilities (April to August 2021), 13.7 million or more adults including foreigners and Malaysians (May 2021 to February 2022).
