PUTRAJAYA: Parents in the Klang Valley can book slots for their children for Covid-19 vaccination under the PICKids programme for those aged 5 to 12 years old via MySejahtera soon.
The appointment-based system will also allow parents or guardians to choose when and where they want the shots to be administered for their children.
Deputy Health Minister Datuk Dr Noor Azmi Ghazali who announced this today said that the system would be expanded to other states soon.
"This system will be uploaded in the play store today and can be accessed soon. Parents or guardians first need to update their MySejahtera Application and list the children as dependents.
"Parents living in the Klang Valley will then receive the link to book an appointment," he said at a press conference in the ministry's headquarters here today.
The first shipment of the mRNA vaccine Comirnaty️ 10mcg Concentrate for Dispersion (PfizerBioNTech) is slated to arrive on Jan 28.
"The vaccine will be shipped to 52 Ultra Low Vaccine Freezer storage centres nationwide. With the arrival of the Pfizer (Children's) Vaccine, vaccination will begin on Feb 3, 2022.
"I would like to emphasise that the Covid-19 vaccine for children is safe and effective. This is also supported by a statement issued by the College of Pediatrics, Academy of Medicine Malaysia on 20 Jan, 2022.
"An estimated 4 million children aged 5 to under 12 are eligible to receive this vaccine. The use of this vaccine is highly recommended to ensure children are protected from serious complications as a result of contracting Covid-19."
He said the Pfizer (Children's) vaccination would kick off in hospitals for children with medical problems, while vaccination for other children would be given at Integrated Vaccination Centres (PPV).
"Next, this will be extended to schools with the help of the Education Ministry. Other delivery methods that have been identified are offsite PPVs, private clinics, health clinics and outreach programs."
He said that the ministry would collaborate with other stakeholders and agencies including the Welfare Department to ensure that no children were left behind in this programme.
Dr Noor Azmi said even displaced street children were expected to have access to the jabs through collaborations with the relevant departments, NGOs and community leaders.
"No child would be left behind under this programme."
To date, 484,639 children aged 5 to under 12 have registered on MySejahtera.
"Vaccination programmes for every age group of the society are important to enable Malaysia to enter the endemic phase and subsequently recover from the impact of the pandemic.
"Therefore, for this programme, I would like to recommend that each individual take on the responsibility as parents and guardians to ensure the well-being of the family and the country. "
He said the Covid-19 Vaccination Working Group also decided to allow children to be vaccinated based on the National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency's finding that it safe for children, apart from being efficacious in curtailing adverse effects related to the disease.
Dr Noor Azmi said 8.6 million children had been administered with the vaccine in the United States and adverse side effects had been very limited.
He also said there were no cases involving deaths.
Malaysia is seeing a surge in Omicron cases, with today's daily total number of cases breaching 5,000 for the first time since December 2021 with 5,439 infections reported.