KUALA LUMPUR: The Health Ministry will begin vaccinating children aged 5 to 11 from Feb 3 at Hospital Tunku Azizah here.
Its minister Khairy Jamaluddin said the appointment bookings through MySejahtera will be open by the end of January, with parents being able to register their children as dependents in their MySejahtera application.
"Bookings for vaccination appointments for children aged 5 to under 12 will be done in phases starting Jan 31, beginning with parents residing in Klang Valley.
"Details on the access to the booking system will be announced soon," he said at a press conference in Parliament today.
The ministry is targeting for 70 per cent of children aged between 5 and 12 in the education system to be given their first paediatric dose of the Pfizer vaccine within two months from the start of the programme in early February.
It also hopes to achieve 80 per cent receiving complete doses within six months of its implementation.
"I would like to take this opportunity to urge employers to give unrecorded leave to parents who will be bringing their children for vaccination and for them to monitor their children after receiving the jab."
Khairy said the ministry, through the Drug Control Authority had analysed safety and efficacy data and had agreed to give conditional approval to the Cominarty 10mcg Concentrate for Dispersion (Pfizer-BioNTech) vaccine on Jan 6 for children aged between 5 and 11.
He said the mRNA vaccine had undergone clinical studies to ensure its quality, safety and efficacy, and was found to be 90.7 per cent effective and could increase immunity against Covid-19.
"However, as with other vaccines, the special formulation of the Cominarty vaccine can also bring normal side effects such as pain at the injection site, redness and swelling.
"Systemic reactions include fatigue, headaches, muscle pain, chills and fever. Most of these side effects are light and moderate and do not last long," he added.
For the time being, the Covid-19 vaccination is recommended for children aged 5 to 11, he said, adding that priority will be given to children with health problems as they are most at risk to be infected with Covid-19.
Such health problems include chronic respiratory disease, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, chronic kidney disease and nerve diseases.
The vaccination programme for children will require two doses, with a gap of eight weeks in between.
"Based on the latest data, the eight-week gap will give a higher immunity response and efficacy, as well as have the potential of providing longer protection.
"Apart from that, the data also showed that the gap could reduce the risk of myocarditis and has been recommended by health bodies worldwide including the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia."
Meanwhile, Khairy said nearly 580,000 children aged 18 and under have been infected with Covid-19 since 2020.
Khairy said although children would only experience minor symptoms, some may also suffer from serious illnesses and require treatment in the hospital or the intensive care unit.
"To date, there have been 144 deaths due to Covid-19 among those aged 18 and under. Of this, 31 were aged 5 to 11.
"There has also been an increase in cases among children since school reopening this year," he said.
