Grand Seasons Hotel in Kuala Lumpur, which has been designated as a vaccination center, was flooded with locals and foreigners alike this morning, with hundreds queuing and standing close to one another, hoping to get vaccinated.
Videos of it were posted by a woman named Umirah Taib and showed her husband Shakib Samsudin in tears as he lashed out at the government over the lack of social distancing in the area and the overall state of the country’s COVID-19 crisis. The couple was passing by the area when they saw the sardine-packed queue along the side of a road outside the hotel. Malaysia recorded 20,780 COVID-19 cases today and 11,162 deaths as of yesterday.
“From the ministers to the police, all do not know how to use their powers. When will they realize that people are dying?” Shakib was heard saying in one of the Instagram videos, all of which have been republished elsewhere online and viewed at least 100,000 times since this morning. The couple circled back 40 minutes later to find the situation unchanged.
It is not clear who manages the vaccination center at the hotel.
Umirah told Coconuts today that she hoped the authorities would figure out a way to better manage the situation, like organizing “a vaccination program where foreign workers do not have to travel, perhaps at their workplace or have a special appointment for their vaccination or a quota for them to walk in at the vaccination center.”
She also expressed hopes for more volunteers and stricter COVID-19 protocols during the vaccination period.
Umirah posted several videos of this morning’s queue to Instagram while reminding Malaysians about social distancing. The couple also approached the police in the area about the crowds, only to be told off for filming.
“When we told them we were recording the video to make a complaint, they accused us of wanting to provoke them. But this was obviously a violation of SOPs, how long are we supposed to hide the matter?” Umirah was quoted as saying in news reports.
Korang tengok lah Walk-In PPV dekat Grand Season, Kuala Lumpur ni. Org beratur siap berpeluk. Polis tengok je. Cikgu Tuisyen aku & wife dia yang tengah naik motor tu yg suruh depa semua berdiri jarak2
Kalau macam ni lah keadaan kita, kita mungkin duduk rumah sampai tahun 2022 pic.twitter.com/wFrfsRj1aR
— Naz 🇵🇸 | 🇲🇾| 🏁 (@_NazriH) August 11, 2021
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