Khairy speaking during a press conference on Sept 1. – Bernama photo
KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 8): Vaccination of teenagers aged 16 and 17 years’ old will begin in Sarawak today as this has been approved through the Covid-19 Vaccine Supply Access Guarantee Special Committee (JKJAV), Khairy Jamaluddin announced this morning.
The health minister said the vaccination will also include those between 12 and 15 years’ old considered to be at high risk to Covid-19.
“Labuan & Klang Valley will follow shortly. We will be giving the Pfizer vax,” he said on Twitter.
Up until now, Covid-19 vaccination had been limited to those aged 18 and over as the initial clinical trials of the vaccines were conducted only on adults.
However, this has since been extended to those as young as 12 years’ old as health authorities aim to vaccinate as much of the population as possible in preparation for treating Covid-19 as an endemic disease.
Khairy previously set teen vaccinations as among his 100-day objectives as the new health minister, after he was handed the portfolio by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob.
Covid-19 vaccination in Malaysia has proceeded at an accelerated pace, with nearly half of the entire population already fully vaccinated as of yesterday.
However, the country continues to report high numbers of new cases and deaths daily, with 18,574 more infections and another 311 deaths added yesterday. – Malay Mail