By Ling Hui
KUCHING, Aug 14: Sarawak already has plans to safely inoculate young Sarawakians, after the Ministry of Health (MOH) announced that it would vaccinate adolescents aged 12 to 17.
State Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) advisor Dato Sri Dr Sim Kui Hian said there are approximately 101,000 students between 15 to 17-years-old in 194 national secondary schools (SMKs) in Sarawak, and the State government will be introducing a programme for them as soon as possible.
He added that the programme will be slightly modified to involve both parents and schools.
Considering recent Covid-19 cases among those below 18-years-old in Sarawak and medical professional views from agencies such as National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency (NPRA) and The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA), he said MOH’s decision to implement the vaccination for adolescents in stages is welcoming.
“We’re very excited with this new policy as it allows Sarawak to have a higher percentage of immunity where almost 29 per cent of Sarawak’s population are 18-years-old and below.
“Second, currently in Sarawak, vaccines are waiting for people and they are only effective when administered into the body, not sitting in the fridge,” said Dr Sim in a social media post yesterday (Aug 13).
Earlier yesterday, Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham released a circular in a tweet stating that MOH has signed a letter recommending dispensation of vaccines for the adolescent age groups starting Sept 15, which was later confirmed by National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme (Pick) coordinating minister Khairy Jamaluddin, also with a tweet.
Khairy said an announcement will be made by the Special Committee for Ensuring Access to Covid-19 Vaccine Supply (JKJAV) next week to inform the latest updated clinical guidelines for the vaccination programme.
On the stages of implementation, it said in Dr Noor Hisham’s circular that individuals aged 12 to 15 with comorbidities and all those aged 16 to 17 will receive the inoculation simultaneously, without any priority stated.
However, Khairy’s tweet mentioned otherwise where he said adolescents with comorbidities will be given first priority while the ones without will come second.
Regardless, both statements noted that the vaccination for the younger population will be carried out at specially set up vaccination centres in hospitals, clinics and selected schools. — DayakDaily
