Dr Annuar Rapaee
SIBU (Aug 8): Assistant Minister of Education, Science and Technological Research Dr Annuar Rapaee is of the opinion that children from 12 to 17 years old should also be given the Covid-19 vaccination.
He said during his Facebook live stream yesterday that he believed they should be given the vaccination judging from the current situation and considering that the reported side effects are minimal.
Dr Annuar pointed out that it was better to have as many people as possible vaccinated.
“Not just those above 18 years old to achieve herd immunity. We need to have more than the minimum requirement. I think we should achieve at least almost 90 per cent. To achieve that, there is no other way but to include those aged 12 to 17 years old,” he said.
At the moment, the government would not proceed with vaccinating those in the said age range due to the reported side effects of Pfizer vaccine in the group.
There were reported side effects of myocarditis, or heart inflammation, in as many as 40 cases per one million doses of mRNA Covid-19 Pfizer vaccine given to men aged 12-29 years old.
Dr Annuar, who is also Sibu Division Disaster Management Committee (SDDMC) coordinator, also said between July 25 and Aug 7, Covid-19 cases in Sibu Division are mostly in Stage 1 and Stage 2.
According to him, those in Stage 1 are asymptomatic and while those in Stage 2 are those with symptoms, but no pneumonia. He said both stages do not require hospitalisation.
Stage three, four and five are symptomatic cases that require hospitalisation, he said.
“This shows, in Sibu Division, with the vaccination, it lowers the severity of the cases,” he said, adding that vaccination did not protect the people entirely from the virus.
He said all Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) must continue to be adhered to and everyone must continue to stay vigilant.
“We must continue to be careful because the virus can mutate. We have to keep that in mind. Whatever it is, we have to continue to be vigilant, especially those in the workplace,” he said.
According to him, out of 28 cases reported in Sibu yesterday, 11 cases involved a workplace.
He continued to urged those who had yet to be vaccinated to register for their vaccination.