KUALA LUMPUR: The Health Ministry (MoH) is aiming at vaccinating 70 per cent of children aged between five and 11 with at least one dose of the Covid-19 vaccine by April under the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme for Children (PICKids).
There are about four million children in the country and so far 29.9 per cent of them have received the first dose of the vaccine.
Deputy Health Minister Datuk Dr Noor Azmi Ghazali said although the 70 per cent target might seem far-fetched, it was still possible.
"We are concerned over parents being swayed by negative views that are spread via various platfoms including social media. The parents' hesitancy is there.
"Parents should be worried that their children are not protected (without taking the vaccines), instead of agonising over providing protection (taking the vaccines) for their children .
"We hope PICKids will gain traction soon, similarly to the vaccination rate of other groups that started slow and then picked up quickly," he said after the launch of the "Go Red for Women' awareness campaign in conjunction with International Women's Day at Yayasan Jantung Negara here today.
PICKids began on Feb 3 and 1,060,063 have received one dose of the Covid-19 vaccine so far.
Pfizer brand Cominarty is the main vaccine administered to the group while the government has also approved the Sinovac-made CoronoVac vaccine for children.
Walk-ins are now allowed for PICKids.
"Use the school holidays now to vaccinate your children. Vaccines work, some may experience mild side effects but it is temporary and it is nothing serious," Dr Noor Azmi added.
On whether booster shots would be offered to children and teenagers, he said the matter had yet to be discussed.