Covid-19: Melaka aims to get 50% of children vaccinated by end of February

JASIN: The Melaka Health Department has set a target to get 49,300 children, or 50% of the 98,600 in the state aged five to 11 years, vaccinated against Covid-19 by the end of February.

State health and anti-drug committee chairman Dr Muhamad Akmal Saleh said since registration for the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme for Children (PICKids) was opened through the MySejahtera application, more than 15,000 parents had registered their children for inoculation.

As of Wednesday (Feb 9), 1,360 children have been vaccinated, he told reporters after visiting the vaccination centre (PPV) at Dewan Dato' Haji Ahmad Ithnin here on Thursday (Feb 10).

He said it was important for children to be given the vaccine to protect them against the virus.

According to him, 431 cases of Covid-19 infection involving those under the age of 12 have been recorded in the state since Feb 3.

He said this showed a high rate of infection among children in the state, and the number was expected to increase with education clusters contributing the most cases after community and workplace clusters.

He said of the 11,755 children who had been infected since the pandemic, 7,738 were aged three to 12 years, 3,297 were one to three years old, and the rest involved those under a year old.

"In Melaka alone, four deaths due to Covid-19 have been recorded involving children under 12," he said.

However, the rate of hospital admissions and intensive care unit (ICU) due to Covid-19 was still low for the time being, he added.

"This is because most of those infected are in Category 1 or 2, proving the effectiveness of the vaccine in protecting the community, especially children," he said.

Meanwhile, Muhamad Akmal said he would send mobile vaccination units to schools to increase the rate of immunisation among students.

"We will work with the state Education Department and suggest that the mobile unit be sent to schools when they reopen,” he said.

This would make it easier for primary school students, especially those with working parents, to get vaccinated.

However, he said, it would only be done with their parents' consent. – Bernama