PUTRAJAYA, Sept 15 — The COVID-19 Immunisation Task Force-Adolescent (CITF-A) is targeting 60 percent of teenagers between the ages of 12 and 17 to get at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine this November, and 80 percent of them to be fully vaccinated before the school opens for the 2022 session.
CITF-A, which is chaired by Deputy Health Minister Datuk Dr Noor Azmi Ghazali, in a statement today, said the 16 and 17-year-olds who are sitting for public examinations this year and those with comorbidities would be given priority to receive the vaccine.
“The type of vaccine that will be used is Pfizer Bio-NTech and two doses of the vaccine will be given to the teenagers,” it said, adding that the programme also targeted students in the private education sector, in shelter and rehabilitation institutions, as well as the homeless, refugees, and non-citizens, with the process to be done either through outreach to schools or institutions on a scheduled basis.
To facilitate those who will sit for the public examinations or attending boarding schools or day schools, it said, the appointment for the first dose will be at private clinics or nearby schools.
“The second dose will be given at their respective schools or at the location where they are given the first dose, if their school is not yet open,” it said.
It said teenagers with comorbidities would be required to get the vaccination at the hospital or health.
For teenagers who are unable to attend with their parents or guardians, they will be given an appointment at a nearby private health clinic through the MySejahtera application, it said.
According to CITF-A, the Health Ministry had developed an institutional registration portal, the Vaksin-Anak-Ku Portal, and all schools, educational institutions, as well as government and private shelter and rehabilitation institutions are requested to registerwith the portal.
“At the same time, parents and guardians of teenagers are advised to register their children as dependents in the MySejahtera application. This is to enable teenagers to get their MySejahtera digital vaccination certificates,” it said.
CITF-A is tasked with setting the policy and coordinating implementation of the vaccination plan for teenagers, as well as to coordinate strategies and implement actions at the federal government level with state governments and relevant private agencies.
The CITF-A members comprise the Health Ministry; Science, Technology and Innovation Ministry; Education Ministry; ProtechHealth; Malaysian Islamic Development Department; Social Welfare Department; MARA Education Division; National Anti-Drug Agency; Prisons Department and Immigration Department.
