In a bid to both persuade people to vaccinate and not let vaccines go to waste, Malaysia introduced a registration programme separate from its national immunisation plan for those willing to take the AstraZeneca (AZ) vaccine. While not ideal, many have acknowledged that the move may be necessary due to public hesitancy following emerging reports of blood clot risks associated with the vaccine (which, incidentally, is extremely rare—chances of dying due to blood clots as a result of the AZ vaccine is literally one in a million; you have a better chance of being struck by lightning in Subang Jaya by comparison).

Things did not go as smoothly as hoped. The first round of online registration on 2 May for 268,800 slots for the AZ vaccines saw a delayed launch and several website glitches, which was unfortunate albeit not surprising given the novelty of the situation.

However, by the third round on 26 May, this time for 956,609 slots, (the second one on 23 May was opened only to the elderly), these problems seemed to have worsened—applicants were faced with a slew of technical issues including infinite captcha loops, unresponsive website buttons, and repeated submissions of personal details. Bizarrely, some users who failed to register were later sent appointment dates, while others who actually managed have yet to receive an update, compounding the frustration.

In a streak of morbid humour, netizens have likened the mad scramble for AZ vaccine appointments to that of the Hunger Games—the term gained traction in Twitterjaya during the periods when the online registrations were opened, especially during the third round of registrations (see the chart below). Interestingly, the term “RM70 million” has also recently trended, most likely referring to the RM70 million allocated to the country’s national coronavirus vaccination programme for “data integration and appointment system” purposes.

The disastrous registration processes generally coincided with spikes in several Twitter hashtags as well, particularly #KerajaanGagal and #KerajaanBodoh, although the former has trended for other pandemic-related issues, notably during the announcement of yet another movement control order (MCO) on 10 May.

By the PolTracker team, 8 Jun 2021