PICKids: Penang response highest among SJKC schools, lowest among religious schools

GEORGE TOWN – As the national immunisation programme for children (PICKids) enters its fourth week, Penang sees positive response from children aged five to eleven that are enrolled in national-type Chinese schools (SJKC) but low response from those in religious schools.

In the PICKids vaccination data updated on February 25, 69% out of the total students in SJKC schools have received their vaccination.

However, only 3.9% of children enrolled in religious schools have been vaccinated.

Penang Health Exco Dr Norlela Ariffin says that she is looking at ways to boost the awareness among parents about vaccinating their children.

“We are aware that the percentage of vaccinated Malay children is quite low in Penang. I have reported this during the exco meeting.

“Therefore, I am looking to have a specific engagement session with the Penang Islamic Religious Affairs Department and Islamic paediatricians – icons that the Malay community respects to look into this,” she said.

Aside from children in religious schools, those in national-type schools and Tamil national-type schools also showed low turnout with 14.5% and 12.9% respectively.

According to mother-of-one Fariza Ariffin, there have also been viral messages sent among some Indian communities to discourage parents from vaccinating their children.

In an 8-minute 49-second voice message, a man advised his listeners that the Ministry of Health is hiding the adverse effects of the Covid-19 vaccine on children and many have died because they took the vaccine.

“I don’t believe in such rumours, so I have taken my daughter to get vaccinated recently.

“So far, she has not come down with any fever, in fact, she has become more ‘alive’ and always hungry.

“My friends who have vaccinated their children also experienced the same thing,” she told The Vibes.

To educate parents about the PICKids vaccination programme and answer questions they might have, Dr Norlela hopes parents will join webinars made up of medical professional panellists.

She hopes that parents would sign up to vaccinate their children against Covid-19 to prevent severity and hospitalisation due to the virus. – The Vibes, February 27, 2022.