PDRM Investigates Doctor For Alleged Vaccine Misinformation & Dismissing COVID-19 Severity
Several healthcare professionals have taken to social media to call the doctor out for his controversial discussion.
By May Vin Ang — 19 Feb 2021, 01:28 PM
Police are investigating a doctor in Kuala Lumpur for spreading misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines on social media
According to Bernama, the founder of The KL Sky Clinic, Dr Roland Victor, was summoned to Sepang district police headquarters yesterday, 18 February, to give a statement regarding a 56-minute video he posted on Facebook.
In the video, Roland only emphasised the side effects found in the consumer medication information leaflet of the COMIRNATY injection, more commonly known as the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.
He also claimed getting infected by COVID-19 is better than taking the vaccine.
"I'm not telling you to not take the vaccine. Taking the vaccine is up to you... But I feel that I'd rather get the virus, have flu and cough for two to three days, rather than take the vaccine," he said.
The video uploaded to The KL Sky Clinic's Facebook page on 7 February has drawn over 330,000 views. It was also shared on the clinic's Instagram page and YouTube channel.
When met at the police station, Roland told reporters that the video was simply about him explaining the vaccine
"The 56-minute video shared on Facebook only explains the risks faced by its recipients and is not meant to scare people," he told Harian Metro at the police station.
"As a medical doctor, I was only giving my views on the administration and effectiveness of the vaccine to the public," he said, after spending two and a half hours making a statement.
Meanwhile, Sepang district police chief ACP Wan Kamarul Azran Wan Yusof told reporters that the police received only one report against the video.
Regardless, the police chief said the case is being investigated under Section 504 of the Penal Code for intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace as well as Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 for improper use of network facilities.
The video drew attention online as several healthcare professionals took to social media to call Roland out for his controversial discussion
On Twitter, a doctor who has treated COVID-19 patients on the frontlines said Roland was irresponsible for dismissing the severity of the disease and for spreading misinformation about the vaccine's safety profile.
"Yes, there are side effects, but they are temporary and occur at a very low rate. The vaccine is safe... Its benefits outweigh the risks by a lot. How can you say getting COVID-19 is safer than getting the Pfizer vaccine?," he questioned.
A pharmacist also commented on Instagram saying that Roland did not give a full explanation before highlighting the vaccine's adverse events following immunisation (AEFI) in the video.
"You are doing more harm than good through your half-baked explanation, which in no way offers a better solution than vaccination," she said.
She called on Roland to take down the video in respect to his colleagues who are fighting in personal protective equipment (PPE) eight hours a day against the COVID-19 pandemic.
