Senior defence minister Hishammuddin Hussein said 255 Form 4 and Form 5 students of SMK Desa Tun Hussein Onn received their first dose of the vaccine today, while the remaining 675 are expected to be vaccinated by Thursday.
The vaccination for students at four other schools in military bases – the Mara Junior Science College and SMK Kem Terendak in Terendak Camp, Melaka; SMK Pangkalan TLDM in the naval base in Lumut, Perak; and SMK Tanjung Pengelih in Johor – will be carried out in stages at nearby vaccination centres.
“The vaccination for primary school pupils, involving 330 from SK Kem Kementah and SK Desa Tun Hussein Onn here is also expected to be done on Thursday.
“The vaccination for students of the Royal Military College at the Sungai Besi Camp here will be implemented as soon as the 504 students return to college on Sept 27,” he told a joint media conference with senior education minister Radzi Jidin after checking out the programme at SMK Desa Tun Hussein Onn here today.
The Back to School vaccination programme is a joint effort of the defence and education ministries meant specifically for students in military bases.
The PICK for Adolescents programme aims at vaccinating 3.2 million teenagers aged between 12 and 17.
Meanwhile, when asked about the approach to be taken by the education ministry should parents refuse to allow their children to be vaccinated, Radzi said it has yet to make any ruling on this and would monitor the progress of the programme first.
“The immunisation programme for adolescents just kicked off today and we have not made any ruling, we’ll see the parents’ response to this programme first,” he said.
Interstate travel
Hishammuddin also said that permission for interstate travel was not part of the trimmed SOPs of the national recovery plan.
He said the decision on matters related to interstate travel needed to be scrutinised by the Special Committee on Pandemic Management chaired by Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob.
“Interstate travel is related to the phases of the PPN. However, the recommendations will come from ministers responsible for specific sectors, which will then be considered at various levels including the Special Committee on Pandemic Management as well as the Covid-19 Ministerial Quartet Meeting,” Bernama quoted Hishammuddin as saying.
On Sept 14, Hishammuddin announced that the government was reducing the number of recovery plan SOPs so that they could be easily understood by the public.
Meanwhile, Hishammuddin said the second Covid-19 Ministerial Quartet Meeting involving communications and multimedia minister Annuar Musa, health minister Khairy Jamaluddin, finance minister Tengku Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz and himself would be held tomorrow.
“The meeting will focus on efforts to simplify 181 SOPs to only 10 as well as the narrative in gearing towards the endemic phase which will begin at the end of October,” he said.
He added that tourism, arts and culture minister Nancy Shukri has been invited to give a briefing on the status of the Langkawi tourism bubble pilot project and the potential of other travel bubbles.
Youth and sports minister Ahmad Faizal Azumu would brief on the possible relaxations in the sports sector, he said.