Kuala Lumpur: The Health Ministry (MOH) will begin Covid-19 vaccination for children aged five to 11 starting this February, as soon as the Pfizer vaccine (for children) supply arrives here, scheduled to start Jan 31, said its Minister Khairy Jamaluddin.
He said the decision was based on data, information and the views of the Technical Working Group (TWG) and the panel members behind the vaccination clinical guidelines for children.
“The launch of the vaccination programme for children aged five to under 12 will be held on Feb 3 at the Tunku Azizah Hospital, Kuala Lumpur,” he said in a press conference at the Parliament Building, Wednesday.
He said the booking of vaccination slots for children will be opened in stages, starting Jan 31, with registration priority to be given to parents residing in the Klang Valley, and details will be announced in the near future.
“The appointment booking system, through MySejahtera, will open at the end of January 2022 and as a start, parents can register their children as dependants in their MySejahtera application,” he said.
Khairy said the priority for vaccination at the start of the programme was for children with health problems such as chronic respiratory, cardiovascular and neurological diseases, and diabetes, as they were more at risk of getting severe Covid-19 infection.
He said the Comirnaty vaccine formulation to be used in the programme is a special formulation for children, and is supplied in a 10-dose vial (orange cap). It needs to be mixed with 1.3mL of common saline solution.
“Each dose is 0.2mL and contains 10mcg of mRNA vaccine, equivalent to one-third of the dosage administered to adults; at an eight-week interval between two doses,” he said.
Khairy added that based on the latest data obtained, the eight-week interval between the two doses administered would have an effect on the immune response and a higher rate of efficacy, as well as the potential to provide longer protection.
