Adam Prakash Abdullah
MIRI (Aug 13): The Sarawak Teachers’ Union (STU) supports vaccinating students aged 12 to 17 against the Covid-19 virus to ensure maximum protection of the school population.
STU president Adam Prakash Abdullah said this in response to the call by State Disaster Management Committee advisor Dato Sri Dr Sim Kui Hian for the age group to be vaccinated as around 31 per cent of Covid-19 cases reported on Tuesday involved children.
“We hope that this could be carried out if it is feasible as more people will be protected and thus improve control of the spread of the pandemic,” Adam said.
He said STU recognised the danger and hoped those aged 12 to 17 could be vaccinated along with students aged 18 and above, who are already included in the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme.
Adam also called on the Ministry of Education (MoE) to provide clear standard operating procedures (SOPs) should schools reopen as planned next month.
“We do not want the reopening of schools to be the cause of the further spread of the pandemic,” he said.
In a Facebook post on Tuesday night, Dr Sim had said the state government has asked the Sarawak Covid-19 Advisory Group to evaluate whether children under the age of 18 could be given the Covid-19 vaccine.
Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation Khairy Jamaluddin has since confirmed that the Ministry of Health (MoH) has signed a letter recommending the dispensation of Covid-19 vaccines to those aged 12 to 17 from Sept 15.