GEORGE TOWN, Oct 15 — Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow today reminded residents who have not received their Covid-19 shots to walk in to any of the Covid-19 vaccination centres (PPVs) in the state by October 30.

He said the PPVs will only operate until October 31 and after this date, those who wish to receive their Covid-19 vaccination will be referred to different medical facilities or institutions.

The Penang lawmaker said the first dose vaccination rate for the adult population in Penang is now at 96.8 per cent and those with two doses are at 92 per cent, as of October 14, according to statistics on Covidnow.

"For teenagers between 12 and 17 years old, the vaccination rate is now at 86.2 per cent for the first dose and 5.7 per cent for the full two doses,” he said.

He said the state government and the state health department are now preparing to administer the booster dose soon.

"A list of PPV including private clinics and hospitals will be listed for public reference and all appointments will be given through the MySejahtera app for the booster dose,” he said.

Chow said the country is now entering the endemic phase so everyone must be responsible for their own health and safety by complying strictly to the SOPs and to undertake self-testing if they display symptoms.

He said there are four call centres under the state government that Covid-19 positive cases can call for assistance.

The numbers to call are Penang Covid-19 24 Hours Call Centre at 04 – 291 0110, Covid-19 Assessment Centre at 04 – 382 7143 / 04 – 382 7142 (8am to 10pm daily), Penang Covid-19 Call Centre at 04 – 641 8000 (8am to 5pm daily) and PgCare Alliance at 04-6427777 (10am to 5pm daily or email: pgcarealliance@gmail.com).

Meanwhile, state health exco Norlela Ariffin said teenagers have started receiving their second doses from yesterday onwards.

She called on parents to bring their teenagers above 12 years old to any of the 10 PPVs now to receive their vaccination before the PPVs closed at the end of this month.

"Only 27.13 per cent of students from Islamic religious schools in Penang have received their vaccine so I hope the rest will walk in to get their vaccination soon,” she said.

She said there were a total of 5,654 students in Islamic religious schools in Penang and only 1,534 have received their first dose while 4,120 or 72.87 per cent have not been vaccinated yet.

Out of the 5,654 students, she said 2,659 are in Tahfiz schools, 1,834 in sekolah menengah agama (SMAR) and 1,161 in sekolah pondok.

"Only 7.5 per cent of those in Tahfiz schools, 59.7 per cent from SMAR are vaccinated and 20.4 per cent from sekolah pondok have been vaccinated,” she said.

She called on the parents to bring their children to any of the 10 PPVs in the state that are still open to receive their vaccination.

"There are a total 141,500 teenagers in Penang and a total 121,486 or 85.9 per cent have received their first dose,” she said.

According to the state education department, out of the 126,452 registered students in the state, a total 112,126 or 89.3 per cent have received their first dose.