Covid-19: More than 600,000 five to 11-year-olds have had first jab of a vaccine, says Health Ministry

KUALA LUMPUR: A total of 661,752 children aged from five to 11 years old, or 18.6% of the total cohort in Malaysia, have received the first dose of a two-dose Covid-19 vaccine under the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme for Children (PICKids) as of Wednesday (Feb 23).

Based on statistics from the Health Ministry's CovidNow website, some 14,274,843 individuals, or 60.7% of the country's adult population, have received booster jabs and 22,946,057 individuals, or 97.5%, have completed their vaccinations.

Meanwhile, a total of 23,224,993 individuals, or 98.7%, of those eligible have received at least one dose of a two-dose Covid-19 vaccine.

For adolescents aged 12 to 17 years old, a total of 2,799,485 individuals, or 90.0% of the age group, have completed their vaccinations while 2,889,543 individuals, or 92.9%, have received at least one dose of a vaccine.

The portal also reported that 143,749 doses of Covid-19 vaccines were administered on Wednesday, with 47,876 shots as first doses, 493 shots as the second jab and 95,380 booster shots, bringing the total given out under the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme to 66,589,636 doses.

Meanwhile, according to the Health Ministry's GitHub portal, 55 cases of Covid-19 deaths were recorded on Wednesday, with Selangor registering 10 cases, followed by Sabah (nine), Johor (eight), Perak (seven), Kedah, Melaka and Pahang (four each), Penang and Kuala Lumpur (three each), and Kelantan, Negri Sembilan and Perlis (one each). - Bernama