COVID-19: LABUAN POLICE MONITORING ANTI-VAXXER MOVEMENT

26 Feb 2021

LABUAN: Labuan police will monitor closely the activities of a group on the island that is spreading propaganda against COVID-19 vaccines through various social media platforms.

Labuan acting police chief DSP Mohd Ibrahim Mohd Ghani said this would include taking action against any individuals or groups who use social media to spread inaccurate information on the National COVID-19 Immunisation Programme.

“We will monitor the spread of inaccurate information with regard to this vaccination programme, and if there is a police report lodged, we will take immediate action against those involved,” he told Bernama at the Labuan Ferry Terminal after the arrival of the first batch of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine from Kota Kinabalu today.

He said although ‘fervent anti-vaxxers’ are a small minority, the monitoring was necessary as the programme is vital to establish herd immunity to beat the pandemic.

Mohd Ibrahim said anyone convicted of spreading anti-vaccine propaganda and misleading information could be jailed up to two years or fined or both under Section 505 (b) of the Penal Code and Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act (CMA) 1998.

On the safety of the 4,680 doses of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine at the vaccine storage centre of Labuan Hospital, he said the centre would be well guarded by police personnel round the clock.

“It is our responsibility to ensure the vaccination programme runs smoothly throughout the phases,” he said. - Bernama