Parents, guardians advised to register their children for vaccination - Hajiji

Chief Minister Datuk Hajiji Noor said a total of 32,186 children, aged five and 11, in Sabah had registered through the MySejahtera application to get the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine under the programme, as of Feb 13.

"The number is still low as it represents less than 10 per cent of the 411,400 eligible children in the state," he said at the launch of the state-level PICKids at the Sabah Women and Children's Hospital (HWKKS) here today.

Also present were state Local Government and Housing Minister Datuk Masidi Manjun and state health director Datuk Dr Rose Nani Mudin.

To date, a total of 9,686 children, aged five to 11, in Sabah have received the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine since PICKids commenced at five hospitals, namely HWKKS, Duchess of Kent Hospital Sandakan, Keningau Hospital, Lahad Datu Hospital and Tawau Hospital on Feb 3.

The programme has been expanded throughout Sabah with the establishment of 145 vaccination centres (PPVs) involving 109 health clinics; 22 hospitals; 18 private clinics and four public PPVs, monitored by specialists and medical officers.

Yesterday, Sabah recorded a total of 272 new COVID-19 cases comprising children aged five to 11 who should have been eligible to receive the vaccine.

Hajiji said the vaccination programme for children aged five to 11 will continue as part of the government's efforts to protect the group from the risk of COVID-19 infection.

"The Ministry of Health uses Comirnaty 10mcg Concentrate for Dispersion from PfizerBioNTech. It has been approved for safe use and has efficacy to protect children from severe COVID-19 infection," he said, adding that the programme requires two doses of the vaccine to be administered within an eight-week interval.

He said the children's vaccination programme was free for those living in Sabah regardless of citizenship status, apart from it being voluntary and parents or guardians had to sign a written permission letter before their children were eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.

The appointment booking system created in the MySejahtera application gives parents and guardians the freedom to choose the date, time, and location of the PPV for vaccination purposes, and parents can also bring their children directly to a nearby PPV to get vaccinated.