PUTRAJAYA: Malaysia is in talks with a vaccine maker to procure vaccines meant for children under the age of 12, says Khairy Jamaluddin.
Without naming the company, the Health Minister said the vaccine maker is in the midst of submitting clinical data on the vaccines, which could be administered to children.
“The ministry is no longer pursuing the so-called ‘herd immunity’. Instead, our target is to now vaccinate as many people as we can within our population.
“We have vaccinated adults and we just started vaccinating our teenagers.
“And now, we are in talks with a company about procuring vaccines that can be administered to children below 12,” said Khairy at a press conference here Friday (Sept 24).
Khairy said the company is expected to submit the clinical data to be assessed by the National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency (NPRA) around next month.
“The company said they needed some time. Also, I am confident there are other companies who will be doing the same as I understand some vaccine makers are currently conducting clinical trials on children,” he said.
Khairy said it was important to get the entire population protected from Covid-19 with vaccines.
“We want all people in Malaysia to be protected. We don’t want things to end up where adults and teenagers are vaccinated, but then there is a pandemic among children,” said Khairy.
After more than 80% of its adult population have been fully vaccinated, Malaysia is currently in the process of vaccinating a total of 3.2 million adolescents aged 12 to 17.
The country is hoping to vaccinate all eligible teenagers by year-end, in time for the start of the new schooling term.
Without naming the company, the Health Minister said the vaccine maker is in the midst of submitting clinical data on the vaccines, which could be administered to children.
“The ministry is no longer pursuing the so-called ‘herd immunity’. Instead, our target is to now vaccinate as many people as we can within our population.
“We have vaccinated adults and we just started vaccinating our teenagers.
“And now, we are in talks with a company about procuring vaccines that can be administered to children below 12,” said Khairy at a press conference here Friday (Sept 24).
Khairy said the company is expected to submit the clinical data to be assessed by the National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency (NPRA) around next month.
“The company said they needed some time. Also, I am confident there are other companies who will be doing the same as I understand some vaccine makers are currently conducting clinical trials on children,” he said.
Khairy said it was important to get the entire population protected from Covid-19 with vaccines.
“We want all people in Malaysia to be protected. We don’t want things to end up where adults and teenagers are vaccinated, but then there is a pandemic among children,” said Khairy.
After more than 80% of its adult population have been fully vaccinated, Malaysia is currently in the process of vaccinating a total of 3.2 million adolescents aged 12 to 17.
The country is hoping to vaccinate all eligible teenagers by year-end, in time for the start of the new schooling term.
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