Don't delay, get your child vaccinated against Omicron surge

The government's move under PICKids for children between five to 11 years old to protect the young against Covid-19, starting from Feb 3 has so far seen over eight per cent or almost 290,000 children receiving their first dose.

The programme targets over 3.6 million children to ensure the risk of infection at schools is curbed and to reduce clusters among students.

Congratulations to those who have so far vaccinated their children.

Although many of the parents have registered their children for the vaccine, but some are still hesitant.

The states with the lowest vaccination record is Kelantan with only 5,000 out of 115,000 children between 5 to 11 year old vaccinated. The other two states are Melaka and Sabah.

Kelantan Health Department (JKNK) director, Datuk Dr Zaini Hussin said parents who do not register their kids might be taking the ‘wait-and-see’ approach.

Sabah only recorded 32,186 children or 10 percent out of 411,400 children registered through MySejahtera application.

Every parent wants the best for their children, however, it's not the right time to delay the vaccination as the infections Omicron surges.

Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) Dr Ahmad Izuanuddin Ismail said many countries have implemented vaccination programmes including the United States, Europe and Singapore with success.

Health deputy minister, Datuk Dr Noor Azmi Ghazali said 63 children under 12 years old have died due to Covid-19.

Due to that parents should not take the news lightly and filter the fake news read on social media.

Kelantan Mufti, Datuk Mohamed Shukri also advised parents not to be influenced by the hoax on social media scaring parents on the side-effects from the vaccine as the vaccination has been decided by the National Fatwa Committee Council (MJFK) and it is in accordance with permissible guidelines.

Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) Immunology Unit, Department of Pathology, Faculty of Medicine and Health Science senior lecturer, Dr Masriana Hassan explained that the administration of Covid-19 vaccine to children under 12 years old is according to the dose set by relevant parties including U.S. Food and Drug Administration advisory panel (FDA) as well as the manufacturer of the vaccine.

He said it is normal for children to experience slight symptoms including fever after receiving the dose as it reacts the body.

With school holidays approaching in March, parents should get their children vaccinated to curb Covid-19 and while we do our best, we shall leave the rest of our affairs to the Almighty.

*Siti Shamila Che Zahari is the Editor of Sinar Harian