Labuan sees low take-up of vaccines under PICKids

LABUAN: Labuan has one of the lowest Covid-19 vaccination rates for children in the country, and this is partly due to misconceptions among the parents, said Labuan Health director Dr Ismuni Bohari.

He said just 1.9 per cent, or 218, of the island’s 11,700 children aged five to 11 had received two doses of the Covid-19 vaccine as at April 8.

Only 41.92 per cent, or 4,905, of this group had received the first dose, and the take-up rate for the second shot was slow at below 100 walk-ins at the vaccination centres daily, he said.

“Labuan is among the states and federal territories having the lowest vaccination rates for children aged five to 11 years old.

“We can only hope for more parents to encourage their children to take and complete the vaccine,” he told Bernama yesterday.

According to him, children do get severely sick from Covid19 or experience long-term complications, and vaccination is the best way to prevent children from getting sick.

Dr Ismuni noted that some parents were still hesitant about having their children vaccinated, worrying about side effects although the risks were extremely low and largely confined to adults having chronic illnesses.

“Many parents also question whether the vaccines are even necessary for young children.

“They mistakenly claim that children do not get sick with Covid-19, when in fact, children make up a rising portion of new cases.

“Some parents are reluctant to vaccinate their children because they think the vaccines will do nothing to limit the spread of the virus.

“They have heard incorrectly that the vaccines only limit the severity of symptoms without preventing infections,” said Dr Ismuni.

He said the vaccines could prevent both symptomatic and asymptomatic cases and limit their spread in the population.

Dr Ismuni said because of the misconceptions about risks, some people chose to ride out the infection and did not want to get vaccinated.

“They forget that even young, healthy people had gotten severely sick and died.

They also forget that we get vaccinated not just to protect ourselves, but also to protect those around us and the people we love,” he said.