Health Minister lauds Sarawak implementation of PICKids, urges other states to emulate

A health worker administers a dose of Covid-19 vaccine on Lim Yi Cheng, 12, at the Covid-19 vaccination centre at IDCC Shah Alam on Feb 3, 2022. – Bernama photo

BINTULU (Feb 11): Sarawak continues to show how things should be run with its handling of the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme for Kids (PICKids), said Khairy Jamaluddin.

“Ramping up capacity, getting on with it, and doing a good job of risk communication on the ground,” the Health Minister tweeted yesterday.

He urged other states to be more proactive in giving protection from the virus to children.

Based on the CovidNow portal, as of Wednesday, Sarawak recorded a 4.1 per cent vaccination rate for children aged five to 11, just behind Klang Valley at 4.6 per cent.

This was well ahead of Melaka (1.4 per cent), Negeri Sembilan (0.9 per cent), Sabah (0.9 per cent), Labuan (0.3 per cent), Kedah (0.2 per cent), Perlis (0.2 per cent), Pahang (0.1 per cent), Perak (0.1 per cent), and Penang (0.1 per cent).

When launching the state-level PICKids on Feb 3, Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas said 272,500 children are eligible for the programme in Sarawak.

This represents around 9.6 per cent of the state’s total population.

Uggah said results of a public survey of 40,000 respondents from Jan 26-31, 2022 by the State Health Department on parental acceptance of vaccination for children found 59.7 per cent strongly agreed, while 25.3 per cent were unsure, and 15 per cent disagreed.

He said the main reasons respondents disagreed or were unsure were because of worries about complications, safety of the vaccine, and wanting to be able to choose the type of vaccine.

In another tweet, Khairy said 90 per cent of teachers in Sarawak have received the Covid-19 booster dose.

He opined the state is doing everything right to keep schools safe.

In Labuan, 80.8 per cent of teachers had received the third dose, while 77.9 per cent of teachers had been given the booster dose in Kuala Lumpur and 71.7 per cent in Melaka.

from Borneo Post Online https://bit.ly/3GOCj6o
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