Malaysia’s civil servants told to get vaccinated or face dismissal

The deadline for civil servants to get vaccinated against COVID-19 has been set as November 1. JPA had previously only warned of “disciplinary action” for federal civil servants who were not fully vaccinated by November 1.

JPA director-general Mohd Khairul Adib Abd Rahman said failure to comply with the department head’s instructions to get vaccinated on or after November 1 “may result in disciplinary action or termination of service”.

A circular uploaded to JPA’s website said, “Officers are responsible for obtaining complete COVID-19 immunisation as prescribed by the government. This is to ensure a safe work environment and (that) service delivery … and public service productivity is at an optimal level,” Bernama quoted the circular as saying.

Civil servants who could not be vaccinated due to health reasons may need to be certified by a registered medical practitioner, according to the circular.

Department heads can instruct their staff to undergo a COVID-19 test if they have been confirmed unfit to be inoculated for health reasons. In addition, department heads can, at any time, instruct staff who have not been vaccinated to undergo COVID-19 screening at their own expense.

READ: Malaysia offers over 275,000 jobs on its public jobs portal

For those who are not eligible to be vaccinated against COVID-19 due to health reasons, the government will bear the cost of COVID-19 tests, according to Free Malaysia Today.