In a written parliamentary reply, the Ministry of Health has revealed that COVID-19 vaccinations for children under 12 would begin next year. It said that the COVID-19 Vaccine Candidate Selection Committee (JKPCV) is still gathering scientific evidence to administer the shot to children between the ages of five to 12.
The ministry added that for now, only the Pfizer-BioNTech COMINARTY vaccine is prepared for use on children in that age group. Pfizer will be presenting data on its vaccine’s efficacy and safety on kids under 12 to the National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency (NPRA) by the end of the year to get approval.
Pfizer has recently been authorised for emergency use on children by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and is waiting for similar approval from the European Union. The company’s clinical trial found that the vaccine is 90.7% effective at providing protection for kids with only one-third the dosage for adults.
Malaysia began vaccinating teens aged 12 to 17 just a couple of months ago and has already fully vaccinated more than 78% of them. While the country has already entered an endemic phase, COVID-19 infections have been trending upwardly as of late, with the national infection rate now back to 1.0.
(Source: Parlimen [11 November 2011])
