By Nur Ashikin Louis
KUCHING, Sept 26: A total of 78 per cent of adolescents aged 16 to 17 in Sarawak have receive at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine, says Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin.
“We gave priority to this age group because they are going to return to school and sit for examinations.
“Seventy-eight per cent is a good achievement and after this, we will shift our focus to vaccinating those aged between 12 to 15.
“At the moment, for the whole group of adolescents aged between 12 to 17, 29 per cent of them have been given at least the first dose of vaccine,” he said at a press conference after attending a special meeting on immunisation and pandemic management at Wisma Bapa Malaysia here today.
The vaccination programme for adolescents aged 16 and 17 in Sarawak started on Sept 8 while the rollout for those aged 12 to 15 began on Sept 24.
The vaccination drive is in preparation for the reopening of schools on Oct 3 to ensure the risk of infection in schools is reduced while preventing the emergence of clusters or cases involving school children.
When asked on the vaccination for about 2 to 4 million illegal immigrants (Pati) in Sarawak, Khairy said the Ministry of Health (MOH) is already conducting outreach programmes with non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to address the issue.
“We do not reject anyone who walks in our vaccination centres (PPVs) either they are Malaysian citizens, non-citizens or those with no documentation. We have a policy that we give (Covid-19 vaccines) to all and we are still conducting outreach programmes with NGOs to give vaccination to everyone residing in Malaysia,” he said. — DayakDaily
