KUALA LUMPUR: The government is expected to announce on Wednesday its decision on the administration of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 Comirnaty vaccine in young people aged between 12 and 15 years.
Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Adham Baba said the decision will be made during the Special Committee for Ensuring Access to Covid-19 Vaccine Supply (JKJAV) meeting, on Wednesday (June 9).
"We will make an announcement next Wednesday after the JKJAV meeting," he told the New Straits Times.
Authorities, he said would also factor in vaccine supply to ensure Malaysia has enough supplies to vaccinate children if recommended to by the JKJAV.
JKJAV, co-chaired by the Health Ministry and the Science, Technology and Innovation Ministry, plays an important role as the main committee in planning, implementing and monitoring the entire National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme (NIP).
The European Medicines Agency, US Food and Drug Administration and the US Centres for Disease Control have recently expanded the emergency use authorisation for the Covid-19 Pfizer-BioNTech Comirnaty vaccine to adolescents aged between 12 and 15.
In March, Pfizer said initial results from trials of its vaccine in this age group showed 100 per cent efficacy and a strong immune response.
Among the countries that have approved the vaccine for this age group are Canada, Singapore, United Kingdom, Italy and Hong Kong. The Comirnaty, a messenger RNA vaccine is already approved for use in people aged 16 and over.
Following this, Malaysian experts have recommended the government start administering the vaccine to young people between 12 and 15-years-old.
This, they said would protect them against the virus and newer variants as well as accelerate the country's vaccination drive.
From Jan 25, last year, to May 30, this year, 82,341 children in Malaysia have been infected, comprising those aged 13 to 17 (27,402 cases), 7 to 12 years (26,851), 5 and 6 (8,237) and infants to 4 years (19,851).
Associate Professor Dr Tan Toh Leong, who treats seriously ill Covid-19 patients at th Canselor Tuanku Muhriz Hospital of the Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia cautioned that the rising number of deaths among children in Malaysia is likely the next thing to expect in the Covid-19 pandemic's trajectory.
Epidemiologist Professor Datuk Dr Awang Bulgiba Awang Mahmud, who is also head of the Independent Covid-19 Vaccination Advisory Committee (ICVAC) said plans should be made to ensure children were vaccinated sooner.
When the ICVAC suggested that 80 per cent of the population needed to be vaccinated, he said this included children under the age of 18 as they constitute almost 30 per cent of the population.