Thursday 28 Mar 2024
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KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 15): Malaysia’s newly-formed Covid-19 Immunisation Task Force-Adolescent (CITF-A) is targeting full vaccination for 80% of Malaysian teenagers aged 12 to 17 years before school reopens in 2022, it said today.

The task force, formed under the Ministry of Health (MoH) and chaired by Deputy Health Minister Datuk Dr Noor Azmi Ghazali, had also aimed for 60% of the aforementioned population to receive at least one dose of Covid-19 vaccine by November this year.

In a statement today, the task force called for related public and private institutions, from schools to government rehabilitation centres, to register in a portal “Portal Vaksin-Anak-Ku” to facilitate the process.

The task force also asked parents and guardians to register their children as dependents.

Follow our Covid-19 vaccination tracker to see where we are in the race to herd immunity.  

This is to allow the adolescents to receive their respective MySejahtera digital vaccination certificates, the statement said.

“MoH offers Covid-19 vaccine to adolescents with priority to those aged 16 to 17 years old who will be taking public exams, and teenagers with comorbidities,” the task force said in the statement.

“This programme also targets students in the private education sector, adolescents in protection and rehabilitation programmes, and those within the refugee communities, homeless and non-citizens,” it added.

The group will receive Pfizer vaccines, the statement said. 

Vaccination will be done periodically in schools, while those with comorbidities will receive their jabs in hospitals or government clinics that are treating them.

To facilitate examination candidates who are studying in boarding schools but currently at home, appointments for first dose will be conducted in private clinics or schools that are near their homes — as well as the second dose if their schools are not yet operational by then.

“For those who could not attend with parents or guardians, they will be given appointments at nearby private clinics through the MySejahtera app,” the statement added.

Last week, Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said the government would soon start vaccinating teenagers aged 12 to 17 beginning with the state of Sarawak.

In its latest decision, the government plans for certain schools to reopen on Oct 3, from Sept 1 previously. The reopening is done in stages involving states in Phases 3 and 4 of the National Recovery Plan, while schools are closed for states in Phases 1 and 2 — except for certain classes such as for students with key exams in Phase 2 states.

Edited ByJoyce Goh
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