GEORGE TOWN: Penang is aiming to ease into Phase Three of the National Recovery Plan (NRP) by next month, says Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow.
Chow said with this target in mind, all vaccination centres (PPV) in the state must optimise their respective capacities to ensure that 40 per cent of the state's adult population receive two doses of of the Covid-19 vaccine by next month to transit into the next phase of the NRP.
"Based on the operations at the PPVs, the maximum dose capacity which we need and must achieve is 20,000 doses daily.
"The state Health Department, together with the state-level Covid-19 Immunisation Task Force (CITF), must ensure that this target is met.
"In fact, the state special security committee on Covid-19 management which met this morning was also told that the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme (NIP) has entered Phase Three for Penang beginning this week," he said.
Chow said to ensure Penang is able to ease into the subsequent phase of the NRP, the people must work together to ensure the threshold indicators set are met.
Last Wednesday (July 7), Penang eased into Phase Two of the NRP after it met the three threshold indicators fixed for the state.
Penang had recorded an average of 9.5 cases per 100,000, well below the 12.2 cases per 100,000 threshold. Penang had also surpassed the vaccination rates of 10 per cent for the adult population with 10.1 per cent so far.
The usage of its Intensive Care Units (ICU) is at moderate level while the Capacity to Respond in the state is at an adequate level.
For Phase Three of the NRP, the indicators that need to be achieved are average daily cases dropping to below 2,000, the public healthcare system being at a satisfactory level with the rate of bed usage in ICUs dropping to an adequate level, and 40 per cent of the country's population having received the second dose of the vaccine.
Chow said Penang police chief Datuk Mohd Shuhaily Mohd Zain has given his commitment that he would take stern action against premises, including factories, caught falsifying information to operate throughout the Movement Control Order (MCO) period.