PAHANG: Form Five and Six students sitting for major examinations this year will be vaccinated starting next month.
Covid-19 National Immunisation Programme (NIP) coordinating minister Khairy Jamaluddin said the students will be administered the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines at their respective schools.
"We are trying to get it done in July and complete the process (second dose) by August. The Education Ministry plans to send the students back to school by the end of July or August.
"However, this largely depends on the pandemic's situation and the number of cases (for examination classes to reopen). To ensure a smooth process, schools will be utilised as the Vaccine Administration Centres (PPV)," he told reporters after attending the state-level National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme (NIP) meeting at Wisma Sri Pahang today.
It was previously reported that data from the Education Ministry revealed there are 357,000 Form Five students and 47,000 Form Five teachers nationwide.
Yesterday, Education Minister Datuk Dr Radzi Jidin said the Covid-19 Immunisation Task Force (CITF) has agreed to the ministry's proposal that students sitting for major examinations to be prioritised for vaccination.
Meanwhile, Khairy said the NIP intends to inoculate at least 80 per cent of the population in the east coast states before the year-end monsoon season.
"We are in the midst of trying to reschedule the vaccination programme in the east coast to complete (at least 80 per cent) before the floods. Hopefully, we can complete according to schedule before the monsoon season.
"If we cannot complete it (as scheduled), then we will have to look into a strategy to carry out the process during the floods," he said.
Also present was Pahang Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Wan Rosdy Wan Ismail.