KUALA LUMPUR: Some 1,498,274 (47.6 per cent) adolescents aged between 12 and 17 have received at least one dose of Comirnaty vaccine, while 52,774 others (1.7 per cent) have completed the vaccination.
Deputy Health Minister Datuk Dr Noor Azmi Ghazali said four states and a federal territory with the highest inoculation as of Sept 30 were Labuan with 77.6 per cent, followed by Sarawak (67.1 per cent), Sabah (62.7 per cent), Perlis (61.8 per cent) and Melaka (59.4 per cent).
Dr Noor Azmi, who is also Covid-19 Immunisation Task Force-Adolescent (CITF-A) chairman, said the Covid-19 National Immunisation Programme (NIP) for Adolescents also cover people with disabilities (OKU) at institutions and residential care centres, the community rehabilitation centres (PDK), educational institutions and at homes.
"According to the People with Disabilities Information System (SMOKU) under the Social Welfare Department, there are 67,676 OKU adolescents as of Aug 31.
"From the total, 51,361 are those with disabilities in education, and 793 are students with special needs at boarding schools.
"There are also 750 adolescents with disabilities at rehabilitation institutions such as PDK, government and private OKU care institutions, as well as 21 residential OKU institutions," he said.
Dr Noor Azmi added NIP for adolescents was targeted at all teenagers, regardless of their disabilities and citizenship status.
"The registration for OKU adolescents at the rehabilitation and education institutions, be it registered or unregistered, must be done by the principals, operators, and supervisors of the respective institution through the Vaksin Anakku portal.
"As for bedridden OKU adolescents in the community, they will be identified under the list of recipients of Bantuan Pesakit Terlantar under the Social Welfare Department, PDK, or under the Health Ministry's list."
He said the administration of the vaccines at institutions and homes would be done through outreach and scheduled basis by the vaccination implementation team, consisting of medical personnel, private medical practitioners, or health teams from non-governmental organisations.
"Those who are not in the list above, their parents or guardians can go to the nearest health clinic, or inform their district social welfare office, or village community development council to register their children for vaccination.
"OKU adolescents at day schools will be vaccinated on a scheduled basis at vaccination centres (PPV) or schools, while those at boarding schools will receive their appointments through the MySejahtera application."
He said for OKU adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), mental disorder or comorbidities, the inoculation would be done at their nearest government health clinic or hospital.
"The list will be put together by the respective district education and social welfare offices, before being forwarded to the district health offices.
"The appointment then will be given via MySejahtera app. For parents or guardians without the app, vaccinations will be conducted via the outreach initiatives and scheduled by the vaccination implementation team."