Some senior citizens who were vaccinated this week told Mizzima that the immunization programme against COVID-19 under the Military Council was unsystematic and gave priority to military acquaintances for vaccinations.

The elderly aged 65 and above as well as young people over the age of 20 were vaccinated at No. (4) Basic Education High School, Ward 48, Dagon Myothit (North) township on August 20.

In Yangon, the Military Council has called for people over the age of 60 to register for the COVID-19 vaccine at nearby local clinics, but did not announce a programme to vaccinate young people.

"It's very crowded to take blood pressure in the office. Let alone six feet for social distancing, people are not even six inches apart. There are those who call themselves staff, do not line up for vaccination. Similarly, those who help with health workers gave precedence to their acquaintances. Assistants are also shouting at us,” a person who was vaccinated told Mizzima.

A person who accompanied the elder said the line-up that the elderly over 60 mingled with young people should be monitored and arranged separately for the elderly.

"There are still a lot of the elderly who have not been vaccinated because they said the vaccine ran out at around 1 pm. If you look at the people who came out of the clinic, it was just young people. There are a lot of elders who have no companion and do not know what to say and do, left without vaccinating,” the respondent said.

The Military Council are using the Chinese-made Sinopharm vaccine.

The Military Council reportedly was giving priority to hotel staff and restaurant staff for vaccination.

Meanwhile, Myanmar citizens claim the junta’s vaccine rollout has been “ineffective” and a large percentage claim they would not take a junta jab, according to a recent poll.

From a poll of almost 5,000 Myanmar citizens, 59% of respondents claimed that they would not accept a COVID-19 vaccination administered by the junta, according to DVB.

In contrast, 29.9% of those asked said that they have accepted the need for vaccination, yet are waiting for their jabs.

About 96.7% of respondents to the poll, which was performed by a group entitled Myanmar Independent Researcher, agreed with the statement “the military government’s vaccine rollout scheme has been ineffective.”

Myanmar is currently struggling to control the COVID-19 pandemic under a poorly functioning health system.

Myanmar recorded over 365,000 COVID-19 cases and over 13,000 COVID-19 related deaths as of this weekend.