Sabah kicks off Covid-19 vaccination programme for kids aged 5 to 11

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah has started its Covid-19 immunisation programme for children aged from five to 11 on Thursday (Feb 3).

Five hospitals were chosen to kickstart the programme.

They are the Women and Children’s Hospital in Likas, Duchess of Kent Hospital Sandakan as well as the Keningau, Lahad Datu dan Tawau hospitals.

State Health Department director Datuk Dr Rose Nani Mudin said the programme will be expanded to other parts of the state starting Feb 5.

A total of 251 vaccination centres including government and private hospitals will be prepared for this purpose, she said.

She said so far, a total of 23,578 children have registered for their vaccination via the MySejahtera app.

Dr Rose said the immunisation programme for children in Sabah will be conducted via walk-ins, outreach programmes, off-sites, schools and public PPVs.

All jabs will be administered for free, she said.

Children taking the Covid-19 vaccines will be injected either on their arm or thigh, she said

“Therefore, make sure to wear appropriate clothing that is easily foldable for this purpose,” Dr Rose advised.

She also encouraged parents to register their children for vaccination and to give them paracetamol if their children get fever following their vaccination.

The dose is 15mg/kg/ per body weight, she added.