Selangor Journal
Medical worker collects a swab sample from a child to be tested for the coronavirus in Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia, on October 21, 2020. — Picture by REUTERS

Children with Covid-19: A wake-up call to all parties — Unicef Malaysia

KUALA LUMPUR, May 26 — The recent data on children infected with Covid-19 in Malaysia is a wake-up call for all parties to do more by taking all precautions to comply with the standard operating procedures (SOPs) and keeping the environment safe for all.

United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund (Unicef) Representative to Malaysia and Special Representative to Brunei Darussalam, Dr Rashed Mustafa Sarwar said the public needs to continue to find new and innovative ways to protect children in this country.

“Our actions or omissions around Covid-19 safety measures are now harming our children. It was time yesterday to stop it but we can still change course.

“The future of millions of children depend on the action we take today. Let’s come together to keep them safe,” said Rashed in his official Twitter account today.

Yesterday, Senior Minister (Security Cluster) Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said Covid-19 infection among children and infants is a cause for concern as they have become the group at risk after the elderly.

At the same time, opposition MP, Yeo Bee Yin said the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme (PICK) needs to ramp up the vaccination rate to an average of 250,000 doses per day from 1 June 2021 onwards to ensure the achievement of herd immunity by year-end a reality

“However, whether we can reach the textbook definition of herd immunity by year-end is not as important as to whether our vaccination roll-out can break the chain of infection and reduce the number of positive cases.

“The million-dollar question is then, with the limited dosage we can administer per day, which pathway can help us best to reduce the number of positive cases?” she said in a statement today.

Meanwhile, MCA Information Bureau chairman, Chan Quin Er said the people need clear information on Covid-19 especially in understanding the latest development in the vaccination programme.

She said among the effective solution in ensuring clearer information delivery is the display of daily vaccination rate statistics directly as well as the timeline on vaccine supply.

“The information can then be integrated in MySejahtera application and thereby enabling the people to understand the position of Malaysia in the effort to combat the Covid-19 outbreak.

“What is our status in achieving 70 per cent herd immunity? What are the obstructions? Is it due to purchasing problems or the reluctance of the people to receive the vaccine jab? Could it be due to both factors? Or are there other problems?” she said.

Yesterday, 1,647,183 individuals had received the first dose and 935,865 individuals had completed two doses via the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme taking the overall total of first and second shots dispensed in the country to 2,583,048 doses.

— Bernama

Top Picks

World Court orders Israel to address Gaza famine

Editor Selangor Journal

Malaysia, China to enhance TVET collaboration: DPM

Fallen trees cause damage to 16 cars, 3 houses in KL