Deputy health minister Noor Azmi Ghazali said children who cannot receive the Pfizer vaccine due to health reasons will instead be offered Sinovac.

He added that parents will also be given the option to get the Sinovac vaccine for their children if they do not wish for them to be given the Pfizer vaccine.

“Starting tomorrow, the health ministry will start offering the Sinovac vaccine at selected PPVs, and parents can check the list of names and operating hours of these PPVs that offer the vaccine through walk-in on the ministry’s and HCorp’s website.

“Two doses of the Sinovac vaccine will be administered at a four-week interval in order to obtain fully-vaccinated status,” he said in a statement.

Last Thursday, the health ministry announced that it had approved the Sinovac vaccine to be given to children, aged five to 11.

Health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said the decision was made following a meeting by the Drug Control Authority.

Previously, the ministry granted approval for a less potent version of the Pfizer vaccine for children.

Under the national immunisation programme for children (PICKids), the government aims  to vaccinate 3.6 million children aged five to 11, ahead of the new school year to make sure that the risk of infection is minimised as well as to prevent clusters and cases among school staff.

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