70% Penang folk registered under MySejahtera jabbed, but infections still high

BUTTERWORTH – Penang today achieved a record where 70% of its residents who registered under MySejahtera got their first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine.

But at the same time, the state’s infection rate remains high. For the last three days, the state has recorded between 900 and 1,300 infections daily.

This is despite local authorities recording close to 99% compliance from ratepayers and traders operating under Phase 2 of the National Recovery Plan.

The numbers were revealed by Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow in a press conference here, where he expressed hope that the people will continue to be resilient as the state move towards its herd immunity target.

“By next month, 100% of those who registered would have gotten their first dose.”

More than 80% of the state’s 1.7 million population have signed up for the jab.

Also, slightly more than 40% of those registered have been fully dosed with either the Pfizer-BioNTech, AstraZeneca or Sinovac vaccine.

However, four public vaccination centres (PPVs) had to stop operating for seven days due to a global disruption in Pfizer-BioNTech supply.

Exco Jagdeep Singh Deo, who oversees Penang’s mass screening programme, remains unsure why new cases continue to rise despite the high vaccination rate.

He said the mass screening initiative, which is on its 39th location here, showed that out of 32,146 people who underwent RTK-Antigen testing so far, only 1,850 were positive.

But when the 1,850 submitted for the RT-PCR test, which is regarded as a more comprehensive kit, the positive cases came down to 935, he told a press conference at the Batu Kawan stadium.

Jagdeep said more than 60% of the Seberang Prai and Penang Island City Councils’ 7,500 staff, who are regarded as frontliners, have yet to be jabbed.

Meanwhile, state PKR vice-chairman Jason Ong Khan Lee expressed reservations over whether herd immunity can truly be attained here because many undocumented migrants have yet to be jabbed or subjected to mass screening.

“For their own economic sake, they will keep away from the authorities for fear of being deported. They may be virus carriers who slipped under the radar,” he told The Vibes.

Half of the positive cases in Penang yesterday were attributed to non-citizens. – The Vibes, August 15, 2021