Retired construction worker Lee Ah Kim was a picture of calm as he arrived at the vaccination centre at the Caring Society Complex here with his son and proceeded to get his first dose of the vaccine.

“I’m not worried,” he said when reporters asked him how he felt about getting a jab, adding that he did not suffer from high blood pressure, cholesterol or diabetes.

Another recipient, retired headmaster Khong Ow Chong, 93, also said he was “excited” to be vaccinated. He said it was like “any other normal vaccine injection”.

Both Lee and Khong received the Pfizer vaccine and are due for their second shot on May 12.

Meanwhile, state health director Dr Asmayani Khalib said the registration for vaccines in the state has reached 44.8% as of Saturday, one of the four states with a high number of registrations.

She said those under the current second phase of the immunisation programme would be administered either the Pfizer or Sinovac vaccine.

However, chief minister Chow Kon Yeow, who was present, said the total number of registrations was still a long way from the targeted 1.34 million in the state, which has a 1.78 million population.

“Many have registered using MySejahtera but have yet to check again for their appointment date and also have yet to confirm their attendance,” he said.

Chow said Penang was hopeful that Putrajaya would carry out its assurance that economic frontliners such as factory workers would be fast-tracked.

He said there were 10 clusters linked to factory workers, and called for the five vaccination centres in the state to be expanded to 10.

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