Timely for children between the ages of 5 to 12 to be vaccinated, says public health expert

SHAH ALAM- Vaccine administration towards children between five to 12 years old is crucial as they are considered a high-risk group at the moment, according to a public health expert.

Family medicine specialist, Dr Suhazeli Abdullah said, the Covid-19 relaxed restrictions are among the factors contributing to the children being exposed to the Covid-19 virus.

“According to scientific data from the United States (US), Singapore and other countries, we found out that it is a must to administer the Covid-19 vaccine to children as they are at high risk of the infections just like the adults.

"Looking at the current situation, although the relaxed restrictions such as the lifted movement restriction order and large-scale events are all conducted with the specified standard operating procedures (SOP). the risk of being infected by the Covid-19 virus is still high.

“The Covid–19 cases are still above 4,000 cases in a day and it is concerning. Although the vaccination rate of the adult population has reached 100 per cent, children are at risk as they do not have any protection against the virus.

Dr Suhazeli Abdullah was speaking at Awani Agenda dubbed Vaksin Kanak-Kanak: Apa Kata Doktor? broadcast on Tuesday.

On January 20, the Health Ministry will be implementing the Covid-19 Comirnaty vaccine administration manufactured by Pfizer-BioTech for children between the age of five to 12 years old starting February.

Its minister, Khairy Jamaluddin said, the children with underlying medical conditions will be a priority since they are at higher risk of getting the Covid-19 infections.

According to Dr Suhazeli, the vaccine administration is done due to data and reports that is updated from time to time.

“It depends on the current situation, if it is needed then the government will play its role to handle the matter as a whole.

“The public needs to have faith in the government because trusting unreliable sources and irresponsible individuals will only cause confusion among the rakyat,” he said.

He added, according to a research, only 0.0011 per cent out of 8.7 million administered vaccines to the children showed the symptoms of the side effects.

“The side-effects of the vaccine are very minimal and it is almost the same with the vaccination of the adults. The benefits of the vaccine are greater than the risk it brings.

“The side-effects of the vaccines are more likely to be light so it would subside immediately,” he said.