Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin expressed his relief in a tweet after his son received his first COVID-19 vaccine shot as he shared his feelings about the matter on his official Twitter account today.

"Alhamdulillah, my youngest son Raif has received his first shot at @wtcklofficial. I am so relieved for him to have protection from COVID-19. Register your child for #PICKids #LindungDiriLindungSemua," he said.

Khairy also shared two photos of his son, one as he was receiving the vaccine and another at the "photo booth" of famous local animation characters, 'Upin' and 'Ipin'.

Based on COVIDNOW data, a total of 135,478 or 3.8 per cent of children aged five to 11 in the country have received their first shot of COVID-19 vaccine as of yesterday under the National COVID-19 Immunisation Programme for Children (PICKids) that started on Feb 3.

The Health Ministry previously targeted 70 per cent of eligible children to receive their first dose within the first two months and complete their vaccinations within six months under the implementation of PICKids.

-- BERNAMA