Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin has announced that eligible teenagers will soon be able to get their Pfizer-BioNTech shot without an appointment at certain PPVs. This will be an alternative option for those who do not want to wait for their turn at their schools, which will also act as temporary PPVs giving out the vaccines.
Adolescents who wish to walk in will need to be accompanied by a parent or guardian to fill consent forms. The list of selected PPVs participating in the programme will be released tomorrow. The minister added that the school PPVs will be manned by staffers from the Ministry of Health (MoH).
The move comes after the government’s decision earlier this month to implement PICK Remaja, inoculating teenagers aged 12-17 in preparation for the reopening of schools on 3 October. Khairy said that as of 16 September, 85000 teenagers have received their first dose without any serious side effects.
MoH is targeting that 60% of the adolescent group will get their first dose by this November and an 80% fully-vaccinated rate by January of next year. The teenage vaccination began in Sarawak on 8 September with Labuan following shortly after. Starting from today, the programme expanded to Putrajaya, Selangor, Kuala Lumpur, Kedah, Perlis, and Pahang.
(Source: RTM via Facebook, The Star [1][2], Astro Awani // Image: KL Convention Centre)
