Former Penang chief minister Lim Guan Eng has urged his successor Chow Kon Yeow to accept a private firm's offer to sponsor two million doses of vaccine for the state.

He argued that people's lives mattered and described the move to prevent access to the vaccines as nothing short of a crime.

According to Chow, who spoke at the same press conference in Penang this evening, the Health Ministry rejected the state government's application in March for the Sinovac vaccines.

Lim, who noted that the people were furious over the issue, was unable to contain his own feeling of indignation on the matter.

“How can this happen? If we have two million doses of vaccine, all frontliners, senior citizens and high-risk groups can be saved, many lives can be saved,” Lim added.