PENANG Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow feels very upbeat after taking the Covid-19 vaccination today, describing the injection as ‘no pain’ at all.
“I must thank the matron who administered the vaccine. It was a very gentle process with her immense experience.
“I think most of us if not all feel very upbeat; no pain and we hope this will be a very good experience for the rakyat who will be vaccinated in due time,” Chow told a press conference at the Ambulatory Care Centre (ACC) building in Penang Hospital this morning.
Chow was the first of 12 recipients at the launch of the state-level Covid-19 Immunisation Programme at Penang Hospital today. He received the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, which arrived in Penang a week ago.
The others who followed suit were Penang police chief Comm Datuk Sahabudin Abd Manan, Deputy Chief Minister I Datuk Ahmad Zakiyuddin Abdul Rahman, Deputy Chief Minister II Prof Dr P. Ramasamy, State Secretary Datuk Abdul Razak Jaafar, state Health Department director Datuk Dr Asmayani Khalib and six medical officers.
They will receive their second dose of the vaccine 21 days later.
Chow said they were very grateful that the state-level Covid-19 Immunisation Programme could be launched smoothly today, with 12 people vaccinated as a symbolic start.
“I hope the first phase vaccination for about 31,000 frontliners in Penang will be done smoothly.
“Penang has already received its first supply of vaccines and will receive five more supplies to cover the entire first phase.
“So, I call upon all Penangites to register for the vaccination through the MySejahtera app to support the programme.
“We have gone through one year of Covid-19 pandemic and we have faced various challenges,” he said.
Chow also reminded the public that they still have to abide public health measures, including following the standard operating procedures (SOPs) that have been in place for the past year even after being vaccinated.
“I am grateful that in a short span of one year, vaccines have been introduced so that we can start the recovery process.
“So, I hope with the launch today, we have shown our confidence in the vaccine we received this morning. And I hope the launch can convince the public that we must believe the vaccine is one of the ways to help us control and finally overcome Covid-19 pandemic.
“I take this opportunity to thank all the frontliners in Penang for all their efforts during the past one year and also in the time to come. I also want to thank all community scientists and medical researchers in all the world for successfully producing the vaccines for the benefit of mankind,” Chow added.
Matron Hafisah Hamzah, who had the distinction of vaccinating Chow, said she was only notified of her duty two days ago.
“I was excited when I was told that I was selected to administer the injections. I told myself to do my best. The Chief Minister is a very nice and friendly person. This is the first time I have met him,” said a smiling Hafisah, who has been working in the Penang Hospital Infectious Control Centre since the SARS pandemic in 2003.
The vaccination process took about 30 minutes today, with the recipients going through a briefing, consent taking, registration, injection and finally waiting in a room for blood pressure to be taken and for other observation.
Before being released, all of them were given an acknowledgement card each.
Dr Asmayani said the frontliners who would receive the vaccines in the first phase include medical and healthcare, police, Rela and Armed Forces personnel.
Penang Hospital’s Covid-19 management team chief Dr Chow Ting Soo said the hospital would run its full programme from tomorrow, giving the shots to 288 recipients every day from Monday to Friday.
“Other health clinics have their own plan. We intend to finish giving all the two doses to each of the frontliners at Penang Hospital by the end of April,” she said.
Comm Sahabudin said he had taken many jabs before but the injection today is ‘not painful’.
“I feel fine. I hope my police force numbering 6,000 will also join in the vaccination programme but first, we will let the priority group among our personnel to get the vaccines,” he said.
The National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme was kicked off on Feb 24 when Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin became the first Malaysian to be inoculated.
The programme will be conducted over three phases, with the first phase beginning from February to April for frontline workers involving 500,000 people.
The second phase will run from April to August, involving senior citizens aged 60 and above as well as vulnerable groups with morbidity issues and persons with disabilities.
The third phase is scheduled from May this year to February next year for all aged 18 and above and those who were not vaccinated before.
The Health Ministry aims to provide immunisation against Covid-19 infection to about 80% of the country’s 33 million people.
Story by K.H. Ong
Pix by Muhamad Amir Irsyad Omar
Video by Alvie Cheng and Alissala Thian