Vaccination for children below 12 to begin next year

KUALA LUMPUR: The administration of Pfizer BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine to children under the age of 12 will begin in 2022, according to the Ministry of Health (MOH).

MOH said that currently, only the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine is available for use in children below 12 and it is awaiting regulatory approval from the European Union and the United States.

"Pfizer is also expected to submit data related to the vaccine registration for use in children below 12 by the end of this year to the NPRA (National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency) for evaluation and approval," the ministry said in a written reply posted on the Parliament website today.

The ministry was responding to a question from Wong Chen (PH-Subang) who wanted to know whether the MOH intends to vaccinate children aged five to 12 years against COVID-19 and its implementation period.

According to the ministry, the government is currently in the process of procuring the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine for the group as it has a different formulation than those used for the adult population, subject to approvals from NPRA and the Drug Control Authority.

"A total of 5.9 million children are expected to be inoculated against COVID-19 involving an estimated 11.8 million doses of vaccine," said the ministry.

-- BERNAMA