KUALA LUMPUR: New Covid-19 infections have risen exponentially among infants and children in the country.
Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said Malaysia's Covid-19 paediatric cases are at a worrying level this year, with the ministry recording a 160 per cent increase in cases among this age group from epidemiological week (EW) five to six.
"In EW 5, a total of 6,524 Covid-19 paediatric cases were reported involving 2,282 Covid-19 cases among newborns and toddlers aged 0 to 4 years, and 4,242 cases were recorded among children aged 5 to 11 years.
"In EW 6, however, the figure rose to 6,163 cases among those aged 0 to 4 years, and 10,796 in children aged between five and 11 years, raising the total number of cases in EW 6 to 16,959.
"(From EW1 to EW7) this year, a total of 46,194 Covid paediatric cases have been logged, comprising 16,810 cases involving babies and kids aged 0 to 4 years and 29,384 cases among children aged 5 to 11 years," he said during a press conference today.
Khairy said the ministry has also recorded a spike in hospitalisation among children.
"For newborn to 4 years old, there is still no approved vaccine in any country but for those aged 5 to 11 years, there is already an approved vaccine, which is being implemented in Malaysia under PICKids (Covid-19 National Immunisation Programme for Children).
"The response (from PICKids) has been quite good, but is low. Registration (for PICKids) is still less than one million."
Khairy said with the significant increase in cases among children, parents would need to come forward to give their children permission to be vaccinated.
"So far, we see that this vaccination does not invite any serious AEFI (adverse events following immunisation). Most of the AEFI reporting concerning kids is mild, which is just normal."
Apart from appealing to parents to register their children for the vaccination under PICKids, Khairy urged employers to offer employees the flexibility to allow them take their children for vaccination.
"We are asking for cooperation from employers. We can't force this, but we can ask employers to give permission. The proof (for a vaccination appointment) is on MySejahtera."