Children 5 To 11 Years Old To Get COVID-19 Vaccine Shots Starting February
Parents can start adding their children aged five to 11 as dependents on MySejahtera to register for their appointments.
By May Vin Ang — 20 Jan 2022, 11:36 AM
The government will be rolling out COVID-19 vaccines to children aged between five and 11 years from February
In a tweet on Wednesday, 19 January, the Special Committee for Ensuring Access to COVID-19 Vaccine Supply (JKJAV) said Pfizer-BioNTech's paediatric dose is currently the only approved vaccine for this age group, and is proven to be safe and effective.
The national Drug Control Authority granted conditional approval for the vaccine on 6 January.
According to JKJAV, children will be receiving the paediatric dose of the Pfizer vaccine, which is one-third of the adult dosage, or 10 micrograms.
JKJAV said clinical trials found that the risk of symptomatic COVID-19 infection reduced by 90% in vaccinated children
They added that common post-vaccination side effects are generally mild and moderate in children, while severe adverse reactions are rare.
For the roll out, the committee said children with comorbidities and those at high risk of contracting severe COVID-19 infections will be prioritised for vaccination.
Meanwhile, children with a history of severe allergies (anaphylaxis) against medicines, food, or unknown ingredients will not be given the jabs.
Likewise, children who develop allergic reactions within 72 hours after receiving their first dose or those who develop allergies to any ingredient in the COVID-19 vaccine will not be given a second dose.
Parents can already start adding their children aged five to 11 as dependents on MySejahtera to register for their appointments
The Ministry of Health's (MOH) social media and communications consultant Aysha Ridzuan tweeted that parents can specifically add their children as vaccine dependents on the app.
She showed a screenshot of the registration page and added that more details will be announced later.
