By Norrasyidah Arshad
SHAH ALAM, Oct 7 — The Selangor Vaccination Programme (Selvax) will be expanded to teenagers aged 12 to 17 in the state with 150,000 doses allocated for the initiative, said Menteri Besar Dato’ Seri Amirudin Shari.
He said the Health Ministry has given its permission after Selangor’s executive councillor for public health Dr Siti Mariah Mahmud presented the proposal for the initiative on Tuesday.
Amirudin added the state government will prioritise schools under their management, including Maahad Integrasi Tahfiz Selangor (MITS) and Sekolah Rendah Agama Islam (SRAI).
“The vaccines will also be distributed to the schools under the purview of the Education Ministry (MOE) including Chinese and Tamil vernacular schools.
“We are cooperating with several agencies, namely the Selangor Islamic Religious Department (Jais), MOE, and the Selangor State Health Department,” he said during a press conference at the Selangor State Secretariat building, today.
Amirudin said the students will be inoculated at schools, and the vaccine will only be given to healthy individuals and those with no disease or comorbidity as outlined by the MOH.
“The schedule for the programme will be issued soon. Our targets include students in need as we need to ensure none of them are left out from the programme,” he said.
Amirudin added the vaccine distribution for teenagers will complete the quota of 500,000 doses allocated for the Selvax Community.
As of now, he said over 300,000 doses were administered and the remaining 12,000 doses will be allocated for Selvax Mobile.
In June, the state government launched the Selvax Community and Selvax Industry to help expedite the vaccination process in Selangor.
The initiative involved a total allocation of RM200 million and was recognised by the federal government. The programme which targeted the low-income group, senior citizens and industrial workers was also included in the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme (PICK).
