THE public needs to realise that the only way out from the Covid-19 pandemic is to get vaccinated, says state Youth and Sports Committee chairman Soon Lip Chee.
He said vaccination would be able to help control the spread of Covid-19 among the community.
“In Penang, we already have 1,312,475 people who have registered themselves via MySejahtera application (as of Aug 26) to get the vaccine. This is equivalent to 96% of its population in the state.
“And as of Aug 27, Penang has completed 1,111,145 first doses for 62.6% of its total population while 725,998 individuals have received both doses, which is 40.9% of its total population.
“This is a good indicator as it shows the people’s awareness of the life-threatening Covid-19 disease in the state is high.
“The data from the Health Ministry (MoH) also proves that there has been a significant drop in Category Four and Five cases for those who have completed their vaccination.
“For Covid-19 patients, Category One is asymptomatic; Category Two has mild symptoms; Category Three has pneumonia; Category Four requires oxygen; and Category Five needs respiratory assistance.
“So, this shows that the Covid-19 vaccine is capable to substantially reduce the severity of the infection, hospitalisation and reduction in the number of deaths.
“Thus, the more people get vaccinated, the more the community is protected, thereby curtailing the spread of Covid-19,” Soon said in his opening speech during an online sharing session, titled ‘Living with Covid-19’, today.
The sharing session was jointly organised by the Penang Youth Development Corporation (PYDC) and St John Ambulance Malaysia (SJAM) (Penang branch) (Disaster Squad).
It was also broadcast live on the PYDC Facebook page.
The three-hour sharing session featured medical experts discussing various issues related to Covid-19, such as vaccination, home quarantine, post-pandemic trauma and many others.
Story and pix by Riadz Akmal