Deputy Health Minister Dr Noor Azmi Ghazali today announced that the ministry is planning to expand walk-in vaccination centres for children aged 5 to 11 across the country. In a statement, he said this was to encourage parents to take their kids to the nearest PPV for walk-in vaccinations during school holidays. A total of 412 vaccination centres will start operating across the country. Earlier, it was only limited to 4 PPVs in Klang Valley.
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Deputy Health Minister’s official statement over walk-in vaccination
In a statement today, deputy health minister Dr Noor Azmi Ghazali said, “During these school holidays, parents who do not have vaccination appointments for their children aged 5 to 11 are encouraged to bring them to the nearest PPVs for walk-in vaccinations.”
PICKids operating successfully
The national immunisation programme for children (PICKids) started on February 3. According to the health ministry’s official website, CovidNow, a total of 904,368 children or 25.5 per cent of children aged 5 to 11 have received their first dose against Covid-19.
Under this programme, the government is aiming to vaccinate at least 3.6 million children aged 5 to 11 ahead of the new school year. This is to ensure minimum infection risk and to prevent educational clusters and cases among school staff.
Earlier, in a statement, Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said the Ministry of Health is planning to increase the number of Walk-In Vaccine Centers (PPV) or in person. “We will further facilitate the vaccination process, especially in Sarawak where the PICKids program is chaired by the Deputy Minister of Health,” he added. Khairy Jamaluddin said it was in line with efforts to intensify vaccination among children under the Covid National Children’s Immunization Program (PICKids).