KUALA LUMPUR: Nearly 580,000 children aged 18 and under have been infected with Covid-19 since the pandemic hit the country's shores in 2020.
Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said of the total, 269,773 involved children aged between 5 and 11.
In a press conference in Parliament today, 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.
Khairy added that the Pfizer-BioNTech Cominarty paediatric dose, which is a smaller dose of the vaccine approved for children aged 5 to 11, was proven to be 90.7 per cent effective in increasing the immune system against Covid-19.
The dose for children, which was given conditional approval by the Drug Control Authority on Jan 6, is equivalent to one-third of the dosage given to individuals aged 12 and above.