Ensure teens keep their COVID-19 vaccine 2nd dose appointments - Dr Noor Azmi

KUALA LUMPUR: Parents and guardians are advised to keep their teenagers' COVID-19 vaccine second dose appointments, Deputy Health Minister Datuk Dr Noor Azmi Ghazali said.

The COVID-19 Immunisation Task Force-Adolescent (CITF-A) chairman, in a statement today, said the Health Ministry (MoH), in the past week, found that there have been teenagers who failed to turn up for their second dose appointments.

Dr Noor Azmi said according to earlier projections, the second dose rate should have reached 80 percent on Nov 11 but based on the latest projections, this target will only be achieved in late November or early December.

"If parents or guardians do not ensure that their teenagers receive the second dose, the risk for this group to be infected with COVID-19 is higher than those who have received the complete dose.

"This situation will definitely affect the reopening of schools and also the reopening of economic sectors," he said in a statement.

Dr Noor Azmi said parents who had to reschedule the second dose appointment can contact the school for a new one.

Those who can't accompany their children for their vaccination appointments can request for another adult to represent them by filling up a form available at the school, he added.

"I also understand concerns among parents of their children having side effects such as allergies. However, I would like to stress here that serious side effects are rare and with early treatment, they will fully recover.

"Although economic and social sectors have reopened and the current situation is improving, parents should be aware that the risk of COVID-19 infection is still high, especially for children who have not completed their vaccinations," he said.

Dr Noor Azmi said as of Nov 3, a total of 2,622,306 or 83.3 percent of teenagers have received their COVID-19 vaccine first dose while 2,197,961 or 69.8 percent received the second dose.

He said the states that recorded the highest number of second doses were Melaka (88.6 per cent), Perlis (87.8 per cent), Penang (83.7 per cent), Kedah (81 per cent) and Terengganu (80.9 per cent)

-- BERNAMA