GEORGE TOWN – Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow has expressed his confidence that 80% of its vaccinated population will receive their Covid-19 booster shots by the end of February despite the ongoing move to prevent walk-ins at numerous vaccination centres throughout the state.
In a statement, today, Chow said the state government will disallow any walk-ins with all appointments required to be set via the MySejahtera app.
“We have also stressed to the state Health Department to expedite the process of administering the booster shots.
“It can be done faster. We are confident.”
Chow said that the state will continue to mobilise resources to fight Covid-19 while public surveillance of the standard operating procedures (SOPs) will be maintained.
“We have adopted a guarded position to ensure that Covid-19 can be contained.”
According to the CovidNow website, Penang has among the highest death rate per population of one million despite daily cases having slipped down to 1,597 active cases at present.
Around 85% of the state's population of 1.7 million have received two doses, while close to 30% have received their booster shots as of yesterday.
To ensure that 80% of the population receive their booster shots by the end of February, Penang’s health authorities will need to inoculate close to 300,000 individuals daily from now.
Chow has directed the state health authorities to step up their game by ensuring that the R-naught infection rate remains low, its response time faster, and to focus on containment in view of fears that the Omicron variant will cause a spike in cases here.
Chow who also chairs the national security council’s Penang committee, also declared that The Caring Society Complex here, will continue to function as a public quarantine and treatment centre as well as a drive-through testing facility.
The Mara excellence centre in Jawi, will also continue to function similarly to the complex, while the Bahang Bay and Vouk Suites will continue to be quarantine-centre hotels for travellers returning from overseas, classified as Persons under Surveillance. – The Vibes, January 11, 2022
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