GEORGE TOWN – Parents are scrambling to get their children vaccinated before the national Covid-19 immunisation programme for kids ends on May 31.
One such parent is Esther Lau, whose daughter turns 5 in June.
“I received a message from MySejahtera to secure a vaccination appointment for my daughter, which I did, but upon confirmation, the clinic said that my daughter is not eligible to be vaccinated until after her birthday.
“They also said for her to be vaccinated, she will have to find another child willing to be vaccinated at the same time as her so the vaccine will not be wasted.
“Then, I called a private hospital to ask if the vaccination can be conducted by the paediatrician. However, the hospital said it only has Sinovac and they are unsure if the free vaccinations are still available after May 31,” she told The Vibes.
After searching for information on the internet, Lau finally found that the Sunshine vaccination centre (PPV) will be the only offsite PPV available for children above 5 to get their vaccination after May 31.
Yeap Gim Ean, who is senior vice-president of ASP Medical Group that runs the Sunshine PPV, said the centre will continue to be open to the public.
Recently, the Health Ministry announced that children who turn 5 after May 31 will still be eligible to get their free Covid-19 vaccination. However, there was no mention of the type of vaccine that will be administered.
The vaccination programme for children aged 5 to 11 has not received much response from the public since it started on February 3.
To date, only 15.5% of children nationwide have been vaccinated.
The highest vaccination rate for children is in Labuan at 21.8%, followed by Sarawak (20.2%) and Melaka (19.7%).
According to CovidNow, Penang is listed in the bottom three with only 10.3% vaccinated, followed by Terengganu (9.5%), and Kelantan (7.1%). – The Vibes, May 26, 2022
