Only 30 pct of children vaccinated, time to wait and see over - Khairy

He said over 600,000 individuals have registered and received their appointments but failed to get vaccinated.

"COVID-19 vaccination for children aged five to 11 have just surpassed 30 per cent when cases among children are rising, we also see more hospitalisations, while admission to pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) is increasing.

"Parents are still indecisive on giving protection to their children through children vaccination (PICKids). I feel the time to wait and see is over...we see vaccination is safe and gives protection to serious symptoms," he said in a media conference at Parliament Building today.

He said children are more at high risk of being infected by the Omicron variant compared to the earlier variants as they are the most vulnerable group and have not received protection compared to vaccinated adults.

He said children with higher risk are those with comorbidity or those in high-risk children group (immunocompromised) such as having chronic lung disease, heart disease, weak body immune system, cancer, asthma, or being obese.

"The Omicron variant will cause the condition of the existing patient to worsen. As an example, a patient with asthma would experience severe breathlessness even though the category of COVID-19 infection is low," he said.

Khairy said the total number of children under 11 years old who were infected with COVID-19 showed an increase from 7,730 cases in 2020 to 379,245 in 2021.

He said the total number of children patients under 12 years old infected with COVID-19 this year from January to date, is 119,719.

On the rate of children admission into PICU, he said admission of children for category three to five rose sharply, with 200 per cent for category four and 125 per cent for category five.

On Multi System Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C), Khairy said for the period between June 2020 to December 2021, 174 juveniles under 18 years old experienced MIS-C due to COVID-19 infection.

He said to date, seven cases or four per cent of children fatalities due to MIS-C were recorded.

MIS-C is a critical condition that can occur among children due to COViD-19 infection with the inflammation of internal organs especially the heart, lungs and brain.

Meanwhile, asked on the development of an investigation into the cause of teenager N. Revnesh Kumar's death, Khairy said a forensic expert panel studied the case yesterday (March 8) at Serdang Hospital Forensic Medicine Department.

The panel comprises Forensic Department head Datuk Dr Zahari Noor and Forensic Consultant Specialist and Head of Forensic Medicine Department of Sultanah Bahiyah Hospital Dr Mohd Suhani Mohd Nor, have studied and reviewed the case prepared by Serdang Hospital Forensic physician Dr Emizam Mohamadon.

"They issued a consensus opinion and at 2.30 pm, the report would be handed over to Revnesh Kumar's parents," he said.

On Feb 26, a media portal reported that the parents of a teenager who died several weeks after being vaccinated, urged the relevant parties to clarify the cause of death of their only child.

The 13-year-old boy received COVID-19 vaccine at Precinct 18 Health Clinic on Dec 30 and was scheduled to receive the second dose on January 20.

The teenager was said to collapse suddenly in the lift of the housing block on January 16 before being rushed to Kajang Hospital and was confirmed dead.