First delivery of vax for kids arrives at Subang Airport

 

The first delivery of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine doses for children arrived at the Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport here today. - NSTP/AZHAR RAMLI

SUBANG JAYA: The first delivery of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine doses for children arrived at the Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport here today.

A total 624,000 doses of the mRNA vaccine, Comirnaty 10mcg Concentrate for Dispersion arrived at Kompleks Raya at 7.15am today.

The vaccines would be used for children aged five to under 12-years-old under PICKids, the national immunisation drive programme for children scheduled to start in the first week of February.

The doses arrived on Raya Air's TH383 aircraft which landed at 7:15am at the airport.

The doses are from Pfizer's plant in Belgium.

The vaccines were transported from Puurs, Belgium and transited at Leipzig Halle Airport in Germany before continuing to Singapore and arriving in Malaysia.

"A total 72 boxes of Sotbox vaccines will be sent to 52 ultra-low vaccine freezer storage centres in 12 states such as Pahang, Melaka, Johor, Negeri Sembilan, Sabah, Sarawak, Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya, Labuan Selangor, Kelantan and Terengganu."

"Meanwhile northern areas such as Kedah, Perlis, Perak will also receive the vaccines through the Penang International Airport," the Health Ministry said on their Facebook page today.

It said the process of transferring the vaccines in ultra-low temperature freezers (ULTF) from the aircraft cargo to DHL Express took place at the Transmile Cargo area of Kompleks Raya Subang.

"The truck was escorted by the police to the designated storage locations."

The vaccines that arrived in Malaysia would be sent to 16 Vaccine Storage Centres (PSV) nationwide.

This will involve air cargo to Sarawak from Sabah from Subang itself.

An estimated four million children aged 5 to under 12 are eligible to receive the vaccine.

For a start, Pfizer (Children) vaccination would be carried out in the Klang Valley through hospitals for children with medical problems.

Children without medical problems would get their doses at Integrated Vaccination Centres.

Parents with children aged five to under 12 can make reservations through the appointment booking system on the MySejahtera Application.

To date, 484,639 children aged five to 12 have registered on MySejahtera. Via this method, parents or guardians can choose the appropriate location and time of vaccination for their child.

"The implementation of the appointment system will be expanded to other states in the near future." - NST