Sabah is targeting for 50 percent of children between five and 11 years old to be vaccinated before the new school session starts at the end of this month.

Community Development and People’s Wellbeing Minister Datuk Shahelmey Yahya said that Sabah had the second lowest vaccination rate for this category of recipients in the country.

He added that so far, a total of 51,000 children in the category had already been vaccinated throughout Sabah, which is merely 20 percent of the target.

“There is still room for improvement to increase that rate but we need the cooperation of all parties, including parents to come forward with their children to undergo the vaccination at nearby vaccination centres (PPV).

“A total of eight schools in Putatan are utilized as PPV and five are used for National Covid-19 Immunization Program for Children (PICKids),” he said.

Shahelmey added that for Putatan, 1,522 out of 7,642 children between five years old and 11 years old have already been vaccinated.

Speaking during his visit to the PPV PICKids at SK Kampung Contoh, Putatan, Shahelmey also said that more than 90 percent of adults in Sabah have completed their vaccination.

However, the number of people who has received the booster shot in Sabah is still low, he said.

He urged people to get the booster as it has been scientifically proven to increase immunity against Covid-19 and reduce the incident of serious implication if infected.

“We are experiencing the Omicron wave and we even had over 3,000 cases in a day. However, our hospital beds and ICU (Intensive Care Unit) are not overwhelmed as 90 percent (of those infected) are in categories one and two,” he said.

Source:
courtesy of THE BORNEO POST

by THE BORNEO POST

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