Without effective Covid-19 vaccines for the 5-11 age group, children could potentially become ongoing reservoirs of infection and sources of newly emerging variants.
Although some Malaysian parents got vaccinated themselves, mainly due to vaccine mandates, they perceive higher risk from Covid-19 vaccines for young children than from the virus.
Individuals who were previously infected by Covid-19 and completed primary vaccination may not require an additional booster shot, as scientific data suggests vaccine reactogenicity (reactions that occur soon after vaccination) with subsequent doses.
Of 79,393 Covid vaccine doses administered to under-12 kids, only 8 reports of non-serious adverse effects have been received, equal to 0.1 reports per 1,000 doses.
Health Ministry officials say the Covid-19 vaccine will protect children from long Covid and multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) caused by Covid-19 infection.
A study linking higher levels of government and interpersonal trust, and less government corruption, to fewer Covid-19 infections finds that Malaysia has high trust in the government, but more government corruption and less trust in other people.