KUCHING, Feb 10: Other states should emulate and learn from ‘Sarawak Darul Vaksin’ on its National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme for Children (PICKids) implementation, said Ministry of Health (MOH) deputy minister Datuk Dr Noor Azmi Ghazali.
Dr Noor Azmi said since Feb 3, Sarawak has started its vaccination programme for children aged 5 to 11-years-old, and as of Feb 9, a total of 12,301 children or 4.1 per cent has been vaccinated.
He disclosed that Sarawak’s efforts also contributed to the 40 per cent increase in the country’s vaccination rates, which is an encouraging example for other states to emulate.
“Congratulations to Sarawak. Although we are not finished with our PICKids, but in this matter, Sarawak is the lead in the country.
“I’ve spoken to Minister of Health Khairy Jamaluddin recently. He described Sarawak as ‘Sarawak Darul Vaksin’, meaning that a vaccine state, and we should follow the example of Sarawak,” he told reporters after his work visit to the Batu Kawah Health Clinic here to witness the PICKids implementation in Sarawak, today.
Also present during the work visit were Deputy Chief Minister Dato Sri Dr Sim Kui Hian, who is also Public Health, Housing and Local Government Minister, and Assistant Minister for Public Health, Housing and Local Government II Michael Tiang.
Meanwhile, Dr Noor Azmi reiterated, the Ministry of Health (MOH) is targeting of vaccinating about 70 per cent of eligible children in the country’s education system with their first Covid-19 vaccine dose within two months.
According to him, since the ministry is focusing on school vaccination centres (PPVs), about 80 per cent of them have completed their first dose within six months of the implementation.
He said the reason why MOH targeted 70 per cent students to be vaccinated is because about 2 million students are now in back in school.
“Since schools are open, it makes the vaccination process easier to be implemented in schools. After another two weeks, we can complete their second dose of vaccination,” he added.
Dr Noor Azmi pointed out that Covid-19 vaccinations for children are very important because vaccinated parents tend to bring their children with them everywhere, and that is why they must be vaccinated.
He noted that some children have gotten severely infected with Covid-19 and has to be admitted into the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), with some cases resulting in fatalities.
“As such, the government is very concerned about this matter and has taken steps in early January this year to give out the Pfizer vaccine which is 90.7 per cent effective based on studies.
“To date, no adverse events following immunisation (AEFIs) were reported by the National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency (NPRA) and we are monitoring this as we are aware of the community’s concerns regarding this matter,” he added. — DayakDaily
