COVID: Vaccination for children in Penang begins Monday - Exco

GEORGE TOWN: The National COVID-19 Immunisation Programme for Children (PICKids) in Penang will commence tomorrow, said state Health, Agriculture, Agro-based Industry and Rural Development Committee chairman Dr Norlela Ariffin.

She said for a start PICKids will be carried out at Penang Hospital (HPP) and Seberang Jaya Hospital (HSJ) for children with comorbidities or those belonging to high-risk groups.

"Other hospitals are yet to be involved for this initial stage and for healthy children, they will be vaccinated either at health clinics or at their respective schools. Based on the information, there are 160,000 children aged five to 11, in Penang," she said when contacted today.

PICKids has already started in the Klang Valley for children aged five to 11 who have been registered by their parents on a voluntary basis.

Meanwhile, Norlela said two more education clusters were reported in Penang yesterday, bringing the total number of active clusters linked to educational institutions in the state to 12.

She said the two new clusters were the Bandar Putra Bertam Cluster, namely at the Madrasah Al-Aminiah Bertam Tahfiz (Vocational) in Seberang Perai Utara and the Jalan Bukit Minyak Dua Cluster, involving the Seberang Perai Vocational College in Seberang Perai Tengah.

"Based on the distribution of COVID-19 cases involving schools from Jan 30 to yesterday, there are (COVID-19) cases detected in 60 primary and secondary schools in Penang," she said.

She also advised the public to continue to adhere to standard operating procedures to curb the spread of the COVID-19 infection as there were currently 19 active clusters in Penang, namely 12 clusters linked to educational institutions, three each in manufacturing and workplace sectors and one at a detention centre.

-- BERNAMA