Holidays a good time to get kids jabbed

EVEN as borders in the region start to open and governments begin to loosen Covid-19 restrictions, the number of Omicron variant cases in this part of the world has surged.

On Thursday, Malaysia reported 27,831 new cases, the country’s highest number since the pandemic started in March 2020.

Indonesia has also marked a new daily record: Tuesday saw 57,049 new infections, topping the previous record of 56,757 cases recorded last July 15 amid the deadly Delta variant wave.

At the same time, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam are also grappling with daily Covid-19 caseloads with an upwards trend, with Vietnam and Thailand recording all-time or monthly high numbers last week.

Despite Malaysia having one of the highest vaccination rates globally – more than 80% of the total population has completed two doses and more than half the adults have received booster jabs, all of which helps to keep hospital occupancy rates manageable – our children are still not protected.

According to Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin, Malaysia’s Covid-19 paediatric cases are at a worrying level: there has been a 160% increase in the number of cases among infants and children.

In epidemiological week (EW) five (i.e. fifth week of the year), 6,524 child cases were reported. Of those, 2,282 cases were among newborns to four year olds, and 4,242 cases among children aged five to 11.

In EW six, 16,959 new cases were reported: 6,163 among newborns to four year olds and 10,796 among those aged five to 11.

There has also been a spike in the number of children being hospitalised for Covid-19, indicating more serious cases.

Therefore, parents, if you are planning activities for the threeweek long school holidays that begin for most states on Friday, think carefully, especially if you are considering an interstate holiday or to balik kampung.

Avoid crowds at holiday spots. Always remember to maintain your distance, and most importantly, make sure your children wear masks in public spaces. (Masks should be worn properly; exposing the nose offers no protection at all!).

Of course, the school holiday is also a good time for the kids to get their vaccination under PICKIDS, the Covid-19 National Immunisation Programme for Children.

While the response to PICKIDS has been encouraging, the number of parents bringing their kids in to get their jabs is still low. According to Health Ministry records, registration for PICKIDS is still less than one million while the number of children aged five to under 12 to be vaccinated that the ministry has targeted is 3.6 million.

As at Thursday, 341,960 – or 9.6% – of children have received their first dose under PICKIDS.

While the highly transmissible Omicron variant is not as severe as the Delta variant, getting Covid-19 can risk children’s long-term health, including the possibility of getting the debilitating Long Covid.

This is why it’s vital that parents get their children vaccinated as soon as possible

To encourage them to do this, employees could offer parents time off to take their kids for their injections once an appointment has been made.

The school holidays are, of course, the perfect time to book a vaccination appointment for children – perhaps parents could make it an eventful day trip with a treat at the end to give it some holiday flavour.