KUCHING: As many as 15 per cent of the 40,000 respondents among parents in Sarawak disagreed with having their children vaccinated under the COVID-19 Immunisation Programme for Children (PICKids), said Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas.

He said the results of the Sarawak Health Department survey from Jan 26 to 31 also found that 59.7 per cent agreed to it while 25.3 per cent were unsure.

He said one of the main reasons respondents disagreed or were unsure was because of concerns about the complications that would occur after taking the vaccine.

"Some are worried about the safety of the vaccine and want to be given the advantage of choosing the type of vaccine," said Uggah who is also State Disaster Management Committee (JPBN) chairman to reporters after the launch of the state-level PICKids at the Sarawak General Hospital here today.

Yesterday, Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin was quoted as saying that a total of 517,107 children, aged five to 11, in the country had been registered by their parents to receive the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine as of Feb 1.

He said the figure covered about 15 per cent of the total cohort of 3.6 million children.

Meanwhile, Uggah said a total of 272,500 children aged five to 11 in Sarawak were eligible for PICKids.

"We are targeting 70 per cent of eligible children and in the education system to be given the first dose of Pfizer vaccine within two months from now," he said.

-- BERNAMA