KUALA LUMPUR – Public health expert said, while Covid-19 vaccination should be encouraged for children, it should remain voluntary for them.
Professor Dr Sanjay Rampal said the government should make the Covid-19 National Immunisation Programme compulsory before mandating Covid-19 vaccines for children.
“Covid-19 vaccines reduce the risk of severe disease for a child. However, compared with older adults, the absolute risk reduction is much smaller for children. This is because of the lower absolute risk of severe disease in children.
“A caveat is that children who are obese or who have certain chronic conditions might have a much higher absolute risk of severe disease and stand to benefit more from vaccination.
“A cost-effectiveness analysis is one way to objectively evaluate the benefit-to-harm ratio of childhood vaccination,” he told the New Sunday Times.
Dr Sanjay, who is Universiti Malaya professor of epidemiology and public health, said to improve buy-in of inoculation for children, there should be better engagement in the community and schools.
Another health expert, Associate Professor Dr Malina Osman, a Universiti Putra Malaysia epidemiologist, however, said vaccination for children aged between 5 and 11 should be made mandatory.
Dr Malina also saying vaccination was the best option to prevent infections or an outbreak.
“This is a good move. We hope more groups will be covered and protected with the vaccination. However, legal provisions allow recipients to agree (to be inoculated) or not.
“The ultimate approval should be from parents. We hope parents can decide the best for their kids.”
She said children needed the vaccine as some paediatric patients suffered from long Covid, with a significant number of them receiving treatment in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU).
She said providing the public with data on children with long Covid, deaths, and the burden of hospitalisation and ICU would provide a clearer picture on why children need vaccination.
“In addition, we have to act fast to cease potential clusters in schools or any educational institution.
“School closures should be avoided and the children deserve a safe environment to move forward,” she added.
On Thursday, Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said vaccination for children aged 5 to 11 would start from Feb 3.
Bookings for vaccination appointments will be done in phases starting Jan 31. It will beginning with parents residing in the Klang Valley.
The ministry, through the Drug Control Authority, had analysed the safety and efficacy data and had agreed to give conditional approval to the Cominarty 10mcg Concentrate for Dispersion (Pfizer-BioNTech) vaccine on Jan 6 for children aged between 5 and 11.
The ministry is targeting 70 per cent of children aged between 5 and 12 in the education system to be given their first paediatric dose of the Pfizer vaccine within two months from the start of the programme in early February.
It also hopes to achieve 80 per cent of children receiving complete doses within six months of its implementation.
Source: Hana Naz Harun (NST.COM.MY)
