Day: September 17, 2021

KUANTAN, Sept 17 — The COVID-19 vaccination programme for teenagers aged 16 and 17 in Pahang will begin on Monday (Sept 20), said state health director Datuk Dr Nor Azimi Yunus.

Dr Nor Azimi, in a statement posted on her Facebook account, said the Pahang Health Department (JKNP) was also coordinating with the state Education Department regarding the vaccination exercise.

The administration of vaccines to teenagers in Pahang had already started on Sept 15 at five major hospitals involving those suffering from high-risk diseases.

The hospitals involved are Tengku Ampuan Afzan Hospital in Kuantan, Sultan Haji Ahmad Shah Hospital in Temerloh, Pekan Hospital, Lipis Hospital and Bentong Hospital.

Regarding the vaccination programme in Pahang, Dr Nor Azimi said as of yesterday, a total of 960,126 people or 81.7 per cent of the adult population of Pahang had been partially vaccinated while 691,258 people or 58.8 per cent had been fully vaccinated.

Dr Nor Azimi said another 26,048 people had registered and currently waiting for vaccination.

“However, there are still 189,626 people or 16.1 per cent who have yet to register (for vaccination). Based on the sufficient supply of vaccines, we are targeting 100 per cent of the adult population to be vaccinated at least with one dose, by the end of this month,” she said.

However, she said, based on the current performance, the target may be slow to be achieved and various strategies have been put in place in all districts to boost the vaccination process, including implementing outreach programmes in almost all villages.

“Walk-in strategy has also been implemented in all districts. However, attendance for the first dose injection is still not reaching the target. The opportunities and space to get the injection are wide open,” she said, adding that deaths from COVID-19 were heart-breaking with most involving individuals who have not been vaccinated.

In this regard, Dr Nor Azimi hopes that the residents of Pahang who have yet to be vaccinated, to grab the opportunity and thus reduce the severity of infections and deaths due to the COVID-19 virus.

Meanwhile, Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Wan Rosdy Wan Ismail said the vaccination exercise for teenagers in the state would involve about 173,000 individuals.

He said besides teenagers aged 16 and 17, other vaccine recipients are those aged between 12 and 15 with health problems, adding that priority will be given to persons with disabilities, vulnerable groups and teenagers in shelter and rehabilitation institutions.

“Apart from students in secondary schools under the state Education Department, students in religious schools under the state Islamic Religious Department and education institutions under Majlis Amanah Rakyat (MARA) will also receive the vaccine.

“They will be inoculated at the stipulated vaccination centres under the coordination of the education and district health offices,” he said in a statement today.

Wan Rosdy said teenagers involved were required to fill out the parental or guardian consent form before being allowed to receive the vaccine.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 17 — Malaysia’s new COVID-19 cases dipped further again after 17,577 infections were reported today, compared to 18,815 cases yesterday.

Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah, in sharing COVID-19 related data on his social media accounts, said the latest numbers bring COVID-19 cumulative cases to 2,067,327.

He said Sarawak continued being the state with the highest daily new cases, reporting 3,480 infections, followed by Selangor (2,646) and Johor with 2,334 cases.

Four states recorded over 1,000 new infections, namely Perak with 1,596 cases, Sabah (1,533), Penang (1,462) and Kedah (1,173).

Kelantan reported 869 cases, Pahang (832), Terengganu (719), Kuala Lumpur (366), Melaka (287), Negeri Sembilan (198), Perlis (41), Putrajaya (31) and Labuan (10).

Dr Noor Hisham also said that intensive care unit (ICU) bed usage nationwide yesterday was 76 per cent out of 1,611 beds, while for non-ICU, it was 70 per cent out of 17,043 beds.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 17 — The Ministry of Health (MOH) aims to increase the percentage of private hospitals recognised as baby-friendly hospitals to 20 per cent, by 2025.

Its Deputy Minister, Datuk Dr Noor Azmi Ghazali, said based on the latest data, only 22 or 12.6 per cent of the 175 private hospitals in Malaysia had been recognised as baby-friendly hospitals while all government hospitals had succeeded earlier.

“Having baby-friendly hospitals is important in improving the practice of exclusive breastfeeding, especially when many women are already aware of its benefits and importance.

“Breastfeeding is the best food for babies because it can also prevent babies from getting chronic diseases in the future,” he said at a press conference after officiating the World Breastfeeding Week, National Lactation Centre (NLC) level at Tunku Azizah Hospital, here today.

He said the MOH understood that private hospitals had their own constraints and did not set high targets but the government was working to achieve those targets.

In the meantime, Dr Noor Azmi said the MOH has its own guidelines in ensuring that mothers who are suspected or have been infected with COVID-19 can still feed their babies.

These include obtaining expressed milk from the mothers concerned to give to their babies or using donated milk.

“So the notion that mothers and their children must be separated or cannot receive milk when infected with COVID-19 is wrong because we have guidelines set to provide alternatives to mothers,” he said.

Meanwhile, Dr Noor Azmi opined that it was time for NLC to be upgraded to the National Lactation Institute, in line with the development and needs of its services in promoting, supporting and protecting breastfeeding in Malaysia.

“This NLC, which has existed for more than 13 years, is the lead agency for breastfeeding programmes and has shown various great achievements, including increasing the percentage of private hospitals that are recognised as baby-friendly hospitals.

“It also became a reference centre for expertise related to breastfeeding during the COVID-19 pandemic, so I strongly support this (upgrading process) to be expedited,” he said.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency