Dato Sri Dr Sim Kui Hian
KUCHING (Sept 22): Malaysian experts from the National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency (NPRA) need to ask for scientific data from Covid-19 vaccine manufacturers as soon as possible so that decisions can be made for the country’s vulnerable children, said State Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) advisor Dato Sri Dr Sim Kui Hian.
He said recent medical research publications on the inoculation of the Sinovac vaccine for children above aged 3 and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for children above 5 years old have been encouraging.
“After almost one year of interrupted schooling by Covid-19, many countries including Malaysia and Sarawak are going back to school cautiously soon.
“Sarawak has been entrusted to be the first in the country to vaccinate 16 and 17-year-olds and 12 to 15-year-olds,” he said in a Facebook post.
He said currently, only the Pfizerr-BioNTech vaccine is approved by NPRA for the inoculation of adolescents above aged 12.
Dr Sim, who is also Local Government and Housing Minister, said apart from vaccines, there is also a need to depend on combinations of non-pharmaceutical and public health measures.
“To fight Covid-19 (Delta and other emerging variants), we have to decrease viral load (amounts), severity, and transmission in communities such as schools, workplaces, public places and homes,” he added.
He said though children may be at low risk when exposed to Covid-19, they are not risk-free.
“Covid-19 could kill children and teenagers, particularly those who have medical conditions or are overweight.
“They may not recover from Covid-19 fully, smoothly, and quickly. Like adults, they could get long Covid-19, with persistent sense of ill-health, get tired easily and have difficulty in maintaining their focus and thinking,” he said, noting that as Covid-19 is a new disease, nobody knows how it may affect children and teenagers in the long run.
Dr Sim said based on past experiences, viral infections in early childhood or young age could lead to some life-threatening conditions in adulthood.
He said among the examples are Hepatitis B which may cause liver cirrhosis and liver cancer in adulthood; Chickenpox which may result in life-long risk of shingles; measles which may lead to a rare but fatal brain infection in adulthood; and several other viral infections that may result in life-long risk of blood, lymph node and nose cancers.
“Therefore, prevention is better than cure. It is best for us to be cautious and protect our children from Covid-19 to avoid all possible negative health impacts,” he said.
He advised that the best way for adults to protect children is to protect themselves first.
“First, take the Covid-19 vaccine and second, wear your face mask correctly. Third, be responsible when you are at work or out at public places.
“Let’s make it difficult for the virus to follow you home,” he said.