KLANG: The Selangor Adolescent Vaccine Program (SelVAX) targets to inoculate 10,000 adolescents including school dropouts and those not attending school in Selangor.
Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Amirudin Shari said he was positive about achieving the target based on the overwhelming registration the programme had received so far.
He said as of yesterday, more than 3,000 teenagers had registered and they are expected to receive their jabs from today.
"There are still many new registrations coming in. Looking at this excellent feedback, I am confident that we can speed up the vaccination process among teenagers in Selangor, while quickly increasing the teens' immunity to Covid-19.
"This SelVax Adolescent is a complement to the Covid-19 National Immunisation Program (NIP) where we focus on groups who volunteer to get the vaccine.
"SelVax Remaja also has a role to speed up vaccination for groups that are behind schedule and without proper data, namely those not going to school, not continuing their studies," he said in a press conference after the SelVax Remaja launch at the MPK Pandamaran Jaya Multipurpose Hall, here today.
Also present were Public Health Standing Committee chairman Dr Siti Mariah Mahmud; Port Klang state assemblyman Azmizam Zamanhuri and Klang Municipal Council (MPK) president Dr Ahmad Fadzli Ahmad Tajuddin.
Amirudin said the recipients of the Sinovac vaccine would be consulted by a medical officer beforehand, to make sure it is safe for each of them under the SelVax Remaja programme.
"This is in line with the Health Ministry's approval to allow teenagers aged 12 to 17 to receive the Sinovac vaccine, conditionally.
"The condition is mainly for the teens to be free of any comorbidities and any serious illnesses," he said.
He said this was also why parents were given consultation by the doctors before their children receive the vaccine.