The Health Ministry remained firm in not extending the May 15 deadline to administer the first doses of Covid-19 vaccines to children aged five to 11 despite a low turnout rate in the vaccination of children.
At a press conference in Putrajaya today, Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said that the remaining vaccines would only be kept for children born in 2017 who have yet to reach the age of five.
Children who have recently gotten Covid but have not reached the one month mark after recovery will also be allowed under the programme post-May 15.
“We are unable to extend this deadline because of the expiry dates and shipments of the vaccines, as well as our efforts to acquire more antiviral pill shipments.
“We have carried out many methods (to encourage the vaccination of children), including opening vaccination centres in schools and through campaigns.
“Unfortunately, the majority of parents still made the choice of not vaccinating their children. I predict that only 45 percent of children (in Malaysia) will be vaccinated,” he said.
Currently, the minister said, only 42.3 percent and 21.4 percent of children have received their first and second doses.
However, he added that parents still had two weeks to allow their children to get vaccinated.
Long Covid
Meanwhile, the minister revealed that from October 2021 until April 2022, around 245 children have reportedly suffered from Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome (MIS-C), a critical condition that can occur when there is inflammation of internal organs, especially the heart, lungs, and brain.
Children are susceptible to developing MIS-C, with 174 such cases linked to Covid-19 being recorded among children under the age of 18 from June 2020 to December 2021, including seven deaths.
They may also develop long Covid after the acute phase of the infection has passed.
Khairy previously said that children are particularly vulnerable during the current Omicron wave because most of them are still immunologically naïve to Covid-19 due to the low vaccination rate, especially compared to the vaccination rate among adults.
The risk is even higher for children who have pre-existing conditions such as chronic heart or lung diseases, cancer, asthma, obesity, immunocompromised, or undergoing treatments using steroids such as for auto-immune diseases and transplants.
During the press conference, Khairy also revealed that an unvaccinated 11-year-old had passed away after getting MIS-C post-Covid infection.
“The Health Ministry extends its condolences to the family of the deceased. May this incident encourage other parents to immediately get the vaccine for their eligible children,” he said.
From May 16 onwards, Pfizer’s Comirnaty vaccine will no longer be available to children ages 5-11, whether from government or private healthcare facilities. Sinovac’s Coronavac will still be available for purchase at private facilities. - Mkini
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