by S BIRRUNTHA / Pic by BERNAMA

THE National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme for Kids (PICKids) for children aged between five and 11 years old will be carried out on a voluntary basis and no restrictions will be imposed on unvaccinated children. 

Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin Abu Bakar said the Health Ministry (MoH) is aware that many parents are taking a wait-and-see approach before enrolling their children in PICKids. 

He said therefore, the ministry has decided to make the participation voluntary, to boost the confidence of parents and give them adequate time to make an informed decision when it comes to vaccinating their children. 

The minister also noted that so far, 15% of the total cohort of children eligible for the vaccination were registered after the vaccination appointment booking was opened on Wednesday. 

“On social media, many are asking not to be coerced (against children). I assure you that if unvaccinated adults are not allowed to enter restaurants, shopping malls and so on, there are no such conditions for children. They are given an exemption, because we want to make sure parents are confident in this process and not feel compelled to do it. 

“I know that many parents are still worried, but it is okay, we will continue providing them with the latest information,” he said at a press conference after launching the PICKids at Tunku Azizah Hospital in Kuala Lumpur yesterday. 

Khairy added that a total of 147,282 children aged five to 12 years old, who were not yet qualified for vaccination over the past six months, have been infected with Covid-19, with 26 deaths reported. 

He emphasised that based on the data and evidence obtained, there is a need to introduce the Covid-19 Vaccine Policy to children to protect them from severe complications and death following the infection from the virus. 

“The virus can also cause complications such as Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children and long-term Covid, requiring intensive care unit (ICU) treatment. The condition has a risk of high mortality rate. 

“In addition to Covid-19 virus transmission, the Omicron variant in particular, which is more contagious, has put children who have not been vaccinated in the high-risk category. 

“Data from countries affected by this variant shows an increased number of hospitalisations among children,” he added. 

Khairy further stressed that the College of Paediatrics, Academy of Medicine of Malaysia also supports the administration of Covid-19 vaccination to children based on the available evidence. 

He noted that the MoH did not make the decision to use the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine for PICKids in haste before clinical and real-world data from other countries such as Singapore had been carefully studied and researched. 

Children aged five to 11 years old are given 10mcg of Pfizer’s Comirnaty vaccine, which had been approved by the country’s Drug Control Agency (DCA). 

Khairy said the first and second doses will be given within an eight-week interval. 

“Although the provision of Covid-19 vaccines to children is voluntary, parents or guardians must give written permission to qualify their child for Covid-19 vaccination. 

“The vaccine will be given free of charge to all children living in Malaysia regardless of nationality,” he added. 

He said based on the research data, the vaccine for children, which is one-third of the adult dose, will not cause serious side effects, except for common side effects, such as fever. 

A total of 1,200 children were vaccinated yesterday via the booking of an appointment at three integrated vaccination centres in the Klang Valley, namely World Trade Centre, Kuala Lumpur; Axiata Arena, Bukit Jalil; and Ideal Convention Centre, Shah Alam. 

Appointments will be given in stages and this applies to parents living in the Klang Valley from Feb 1, and later to those living outside the Klang Valley. 

As of Feb 1, a total of 517,107 child registrations have been recorded in the MySejahtera application. 

On a separate matter, Khairy said the MoH has not ruled out the possibility of a sharp increase in Covid-19 cases over a short period of time. He pointed out that similar situations are happening in various countries due to the Omicron variant.

He said the ministry will continue monitoring current developments and data including hospital admission rates, ICUs and critical category patients. 

“We foresee that cases will increase, even dramatically, in a short period of time because Omicron, which has a high infectivity rate, is already present in Malaysia. 

“However, we should not panic because we have reached the acceptance stage where Malaysia must live with Covid-19 and our vaccine coverage is among the highest in the world,” he noted. 

Based on current statistics, Malaysia has been reporting daily Covid-19 cases of between 4,000 and 5,000 cases per day, in which the majority of them are Category 1 and 3 patients. 

Khairy said MoH is working on procuring the antiviral drug, Paxlovid for use in Malaysia, especially for those who are vulnerable and at risk with comorbidities. 

He added that Malaysia is currently handling the epidemic well and Covid-19 patients had recorded positive developments in a short period of time with most of them only quarantined at home. 

“This is an encouraging achievement and with the procurement of Paxlovid, we will be able to further reduce the burden of the public health sector,” he said.