Penang to implement outreach programmes at nursing homes

GEORGE TOWN: The Penang Health Department will be implementing an outreach programme at 49 elderly nursing homes in the state to ensure that all 2,185 of its residents obtain their vaccines.

Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow (pic) said the initiative, which is expected to start this week, would include residents of unregistered elderly nursing homes based on the list provided by the state Welfare Department.

"We decided on this initiative after a discussion with the state health director, National Security Council director and the state health exco on Monday (May 17).

"As such, the state urges for phase 2 of the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme involving high-risk groups such as senior citizens and those with co-morbidities to be sped up.

"This is because since the process began on April 19, it has been a month and out of 210,902 individuals who registered through MySejahtera, only 31,412 have received their first dose," he said in a statement on Tuesday (May 18).

Chow noted that among those registered, 125,866 individuals were those aged 60 and above.

"Based on the data from the Statistics Department, the target population to be vaccinated in the state for phase 2 is 460,800 individuals.

"This shows that the percentage of those who received the vaccine is not satisfactory.

"At this, I urge those under this category to quickly register themselves for the vaccine as well.

Meanwhile, Chow said the mass testing initiative involving the factories and the Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers (FMM) Penang using the RT-PCR test through deep throat saliva (DTS) method will be implemented soon.

"We will implement this after securing the logistical aspect such as the laboratory locations and after going through the coordination aspects with the Health Department to ensure there is sufficient capacity at quarantine centres.

He added that earlier, it was monitored through Health Department statistics that for 60,000 tests conducted on close contacts, those with symptoms and the sporadic cases did not only involve those at public health institutions but also those at private clinics and hospitals.

"As such, we advise those who feel that they have symptoms or those who have been in close contact with positive cases to go for testing on their own at their nearest health institutions for the benefit of everyone.