GEORGE TOWN – About 100 private clinics under the Penang Medical Practitioners’ Society (PMPS) are ready to offer free Covid-19 vaccination services to the people in Penang.
State Housing, Local Government, Town and Country Planning Committee chairman Jagdeep Singh Deo said the state government and PMPS reached the agreement as preliminary preparations to increase capacity and expedite immunisation after the vaccine arrives in Malaysia.
He said the vaccines will be distributed by the Health Ministry to each state before being distributed to hospitals, as well as public and selected private clinics, to provide the vaccinations to Penangites.
“So far, 100 private clinics have agreed to provide free vaccination services to the entire population of Penang. I understand that 50 clinics in Seberang Prai, as well as 50 clinics on the island, have agreed to help the ministry with the vaccination process.
“We are looking at the issue of whether existing clinics are capable of accommodating such capacity. What will happen when the vaccine arrives? We have 1.8 million people who need to be vaccinated. Can you imagine what is going to happen?” he said to reporters here today.
The Covid-19 vaccine is expected to arrive in Malaysia next month.
Speaking on the question of capacity, Jagdeep said the federal government should increase the number of panel clinics that can perform Covid-19 screenings for foreign workers due to concerns of the spread of the virus.
He said that recently, the Social Security Organisation revealed that only 8.5% of foreign workers in the country have been screened, which is “too small”.
“So far, the government has allowed 3,000 screenings per day in each state. I think the capacity can be increased so that we can perform more screenings and take quicker action,” he said.
He added that in Penang, only 51 clinics are authorised to conduct Covid-19 screening tests for a total of 180,000 foreign workers. – Bernama, January 4, 2021
