MOH to roll out vaccination for children from February - Khairy

KUALA LUMPUR: The Health Ministry (MOH) will begin COVID-19 vaccination for children aged five to 11 starting this February, as soon as the Pfizer vaccine (for children) supply arrives here, scheduled to start Jan 31, said its Minister Khairy Jamaluddin.

He said that the decision was based on data, information and the views of the Technical Working Group (TWG) and the panel members behind the vaccination clinical guidelines for children.

"The launch of the vaccination program for children aged five to under 12 will be held on Feb 3 at the Tunku Azizah Hospital, Kuala Lumpur," he said in a press conference at the Parliament Building today.

He said that the booking of vaccination slots for children will be opened in stages, starting Jan 31, with registration priority to be given to parents residing in the Klang Valley, and details will be announced in the near future.

"The appointment booking system, through MySejahtera, will open at the end of January 2022 and as a start, parents can register their children as dependents in their MySejahtera application," he said.

Khairy said the priority for vaccination at the start of the programme was for children with health problems such as chronic respiratory, cardiovascular and neurological diseases, and diabetes, as they were more at risk of getting severe COVID-19 infection.

He said the Comirnaty vaccine formulation to be used in the programme is a special formulation for children, and is supplied in a 10-dose vial (orange cap). It needs to be mixed with 1.3mL of common saline solution.

"Each dose is 0.2 mL and contains 10mcg of mRNA vaccine, equivalent to one-third of the dosage administered to adults; at an eight-week interval between two doses," he said.

Khairy added that based on the latest data obtained, the eight-week interval between the two doses administered would have an effect on the immune response and a higher rate of efficacy, as well as the potential to provide longer protection.

However, he said, like other vaccines, the Comirnaty vaccine specially formulated for children can also give side effects that are commonly experienced by children, such as pain at the injection site, redness and swelling.

"Systemic reactions include fatigue, dizziness, muscle aches, chills and fever. Most of the side effects of this vaccine are mild to moderate, and not long-lasting," he said.

He explained that the MOH targets 70 per cent of children aged five to 11 in the education system to be given a single dose of Pfizer vaccine within two months from the date the programme is launched, and 80 per cent will receive the full dose within six months of implementation.

Meanwhile, Khairy said for the period of Jan 25, 2020, to yesterday (Jan 19), there were 579,624 COVID-19 cases involving individuals under the age of 18, with 269,773 of those cases involving children aged five to 11.

"In total, a total of 144 deaths have been recorded as a result of COVID-19 infection among youths aged 18 and below. Of the total, 31 deaths involved children aged five to 11," he said.

-- BERNAMA