KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 12 — The government’s move to make schools as vaccination centres (PPV) under the National COVID-19 Immunisation Programme for Children (PICKids) will speed up the vaccination rate for children.
Melaka Education and Technology Committee (exco) chairman Datuk Rais Yasin said efforts are being made to boost the confidence of parents towards this end as well as to ensure that 44,800 students under the state Education Department will be vaccinated within a short period of time.
He said in ensuring that all 98,600 children aged five to 11 in the state receive the vaccination, the cooperation of all parties including teachers and Parent-Teacher Associations (PTA) is vital.
“That is why I fully support this (vaccination) to be held in schools. I hope parents will be more confident with the standard operating procedures (SOP), and cooperation between the health and education departments.
“I am also optimistic that 80 per cent of the vaccines to all children in the state can be given in the near future with the implementation of PICKids in schools,” he told reporters after officiating at the “Digital Mahir Tutor” programme at Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Tun Haji Abd Malek in Melaka, today.
Yesterday, Deputy Health Minister I Datuk Dr Noor Azmi Ghazali said a total of 1,055 schools have been identified to be PPVs under the programme which will begin operating no later than Monday (Feb 14).
Meanwhile, Penang Agrotechnology and Food Safety, Rural Development and Health Committee chairman Dr Norlela Ariffin said the state government and the Penang Health Department (JKNPP) faced challenges in convincing parents to allow their children to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.
Therefore, her team will hold an online engagement session with health administrators, Penang Education Department, JKNPP, and 200 primary school PTAs throughout the state at 3 pm on Feb 18 to increase parents’ confidence in the vaccine for their children.
According to Dr Norlela as of yesterday, a total of 530 children aged five to 11 in the state had received the COVID-19 vaccine, while as many as 40,000 out of 160,000 children aged five to 11 had been registered for PICKids in Penang starting last Monday.
As of yesterday, a total of 97,975 or 2.7 per cent of the population of children aged five to 11 in the country had received the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine through PICKids which was launched on Feb 3 with the government setting an eight-week interval between the first and second doses.
The Health Ministry (MOH) is targeting 70 per cent of eligible children to receive the first dose within the first two months and complete both doses within six months through PICKids.
