Make plans to vaccinate those aged 12 to 17, says MP

PETALING JAYA: A DAP MP said Putrajaya should make proactive plans to start vaccinating those aged between 12 and 17 years, as the recent Covid-19 cases among children were “alarming”.

Bandar Kuching MPs Dr Kelvin Yii said that according to reports, 82,341 children had been infected with Covid-19 from Jan 25, 2020, to May 30, 2021, with “the vast majority happening” this year.

He said children of all ages were infected, including 19,851 under the age of five.

Yii said health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah also noted that three children under the age of five years had died in the first five months of 2021.

In addition, 27 children had been admitted to paediatric intensive care units (PICUs) this year, with 19 under the age of five.

Yii said there is growing evidence that children can suffer from Long Covid and be unwell for months after infection.

He also said countries like the US, Canada, Singapore, the UK, France, Germany and Japan have approved for children aged between 12 and 18 to be vaccinated based on available data of vaccine safety.

“I believe that in Malaysia, the government can make the necessary arrangements to first open registrations to children aged 12-18 as soon as possible in preparation to vaccinate them after the high-risk groups in Phase 2 and economic frontliners are covered,” he said in a statement.

Yii also said that if the nation wants to achieve herd immunity as early as August, it must include two important groups that make up “a significant chunk of our community”.

Apart from children, estimated to comprise up to 30% of the population, the other group was migrants, documented or otherwise, at almost 5 million.

“In order to reach sufficient rates of Covid-19 vaccination in the population, the government must look at finding ways to identify and include them as part of the National Immunisation Programme (PICK) as soon as possible,” he said. — Free Malaysia Today