GEORGETOWN – The Ministry of Health (MOH) has announced its target of vaccinating three million teenagers nationwide before school resumes in 2022.
Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said this is part of the MOH’s Key Performance Indicator (KPI), adding that it would be completed before January next year.
“The Minister of Education will announce the opening of schools in stages for this year tomorrow.
“The vaccination program will also be conducted concurrently in line with the announcement,” he said at a press conference at the Tun Abdul Razak Complex (Komtar) today.
Also present were Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow, Bagan MP Lim Guan Eng, and Bukit Mertajam MP Steven Sim.
As for Penang, it will run its own vaccination program for 130,000 eligible teenagers in the next two weeks.
“Most of it will be done at schools where they will be called by their respective schools to receive the jabs. The schedule is also set to be revealed next week,” said Khairy.
Wider protection for teens
Meanwhile, Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation Datuk Seri Dr Adham Baba said that the Pfizer vaccine will be administered to teens once herd immunity has been achieved among adults.
“This is as clinical data has proven it to be safe, effective, and of quality.
“However, we will focus solely on teens aged 16 and 17-years-old aside from those suffering from chronic diseases or comorbidities,” he said during a visit to Universiti Malaysia Kelantan (UMK) at Pengkalan Chepa.
Dr Adham also said that a group of scientists will be formed in producing Malaysia’s very own vaccine and that the plan is in the pipeline.
“We will do our best in achieving this goal and it will be done either through local or international collaboration.”
Cover Images via The Star & MalaysiaNow
Author: J.W Chan
Proofreader: Sarah Yeoh
