Over 970,000 children in Malaysia given COVID-19 vaccine

KUALA LUMPUR: A total of 974,355 individuals or 27.4 per cent of children aged between five and 11 years in Malaysia have received their first dose of vaccine under the National COVID-19 Immunisation Programme for Children (PICKids) as of yesterday.

According to the COVIDNOW website, 14,943,712 individuals or 63.5 per cent of the country's adult population have received the COVID-19 vaccine booster, 22,953,291 individuals or 97.6 per cent have completed their vaccination and 23,232,845 individuals or 98.8 per cent have received at least one dose.

As for adolescents aged 12 to 17, a total of 2,803,567 individuals or 90.1 per cent of this age group have completed their vaccination while 2,900,616 or 93.2 per cent have received at least one dose of the vaccine.

Yesterday, a total of 81,724 vaccine doses were dispensed, comprising 23,129 as the first dose while 1,516 the second dose and 57,079 as booster dose, bringing the cumulative total of vaccine doses administered under the National COVID-19 Immunisation Programme (PICK) to 67,600,736.

Meanwhile, according to the Health Ministry's GitHub portal, 78 cases of COVID-19 deaths were reported yesterday, with Sabah recording 15 cases, followed by Kedah (12), Johor (11), Selangor (10), Penang (eight), Perak (six), Pahang (four) and Terengganu (three).

Negeri Sembilan, Sarawak and Kuala Lumpur recorded two deaths each while Kelantan, Melaka and Perlis had one each.

-- BERNAMA