By Adrian Lim
KUCHING, Aug 17: Sarawak reported 832 cases of Covid-19 involving young children below the age of six between Aug 1 and 12 according to the State Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) advisor Dato Sri Dr Sim Kui Hian.
Dr Sim said in a Facebook post today that the figure was the highest in terms of numbers and percentage among those below the age of 18 who were not eligible for vaccination at the moment.
“During the first 12 days of August in Sarawak, children aged below six recorded 832 cases or 10.7 per cent, while those aged between seven and 12-years-old recorded 773 cases or 9.94 per cent and those between 13 and 17-years-old recorded 673 cases or 8.65 per cent.
“Children and teenagers may have mild severity but as Covid-19 is only 18 months old, there is still a lot of unknown factors when it comes to Long Covid syndrome and paediatric inflammatory multisystem syndrome (PIMS),” he said.
Dr Sim who is also Minister for Local Government and Housing pointed out that the Sarawak government, State Education Department and Health Ministry are finalising the vaccination rollout for children between 12-years-old and 17-years-old, adding that the National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Authority (NPRA) has approved the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine for those above 12-years-old.
He added the implementation will likely be in two stages with those between 15 to 17-years-old to be inoculated soon.
Dr Sim noted that there are approximately 240,000 Sarawakians between the ages of 12 and 17.
In the meantime, he also called on parents to educate their children with non-pharmaceutical interventions to reduce the risk of Covid-19 infection.
These include wearing face masks when in public places, practicing physical distancing and avoiding social events, especially with the emergence of the Covid-19 Delta variant. — DayakDaily
