KUALA LUMPUR: Parents planning to accompany their children to Covid-19 vaccination centres must ascertain their vaccination appointments before doing so.
Deputy Health Minister I Datuk Dr Noor Azmi Ghazali said this was to prevent overcrowding at vaccination centres listed for adolescents.
He assured parents that there was sufficient supply of vaccines for their children.
"Please check with schools and the MySejahtera app for the appointment dates. Do not rush in to vaccination centres without appointments.
"We have also informed the Education Ministry to speed up the process of giving vaccination appointments and doing the best to protect our children, so that they can go back to school safely," he said when contacted.
The Covid-19 Immunisation Task Force- Adolescent (CITF-A) chairman was commenting on several vaccination centres that were overcrowded with parents accompanying their children, aged 12 to 17.
He said overcrowding at vaccination centres could be attributed to parents wanting their children to get vaccinated fast.
"Maybe they didn't see the guidelines as outlined by the Health Ministry for Covid-19 Immunisation Programme for Adolescents, which officially kicked off on Monday (Sept 20)."
The inoculation drive for adolescents would be carried out through MySejahtera appointments, scheduled vaccinations and walk-ins.
"Parents might be confused too with the walk-in terms, thinking that they can simply walk-in to any centre to get their children vaccinated."
Currently, walk-in vaccinations are only allowed for non-school goers, homeschooled and those studying at private or public universities.
On Wednesday, Dr Noor Azmi in a press conference said the government aims to have 60 per cent of the adolescents in the country having received at least one dose of the Covid-19 vaccine by November, and 80 per cent to be fully vaccinated before school opens next year.
Some 3.2 million adolescents, aged between 12 and 17, are expected to receive vaccination under the programme.