He said the low vaccination rate was largely due to parents’ reluctance to allow their children to get the jab.

As of yesterday, only 17.5%, or 72,099, of the 411,400 eligible children have obtained their first shot of the Covid-19 vaccine.

This also means that Sabah has the third lowest vaccination rate for children under this age bracket in the country after Kelantan (8.5%) and Terengganu (9.9%).

“This is what I’m quite worried about because school is supposed to reopen soon but the rate of vaccination among children is still quite low,” Masidi told reporters after launching a vaccination drive at Wisma Innoprise here today.

“I don’t think there is any issue with access (to vaccines) but I believe they (parents) are not convinced. The best way to describe it is they are adopting a wait-and-see attitude, the same as when the vaccine was first introduced last year.

“The Sabah health department is working with the education department to get more children inoculated but that can only happen after schools reopen.”

State community development and people’s wellbeing minister Shahelmey Yahya had also previously expressed concern over the low vaccination rate.

Shahelmey had said the state had set a target of vaccinating at least 50% of children aged five to 11 before the school session began on March 21.

Masidi, who is also the local government and housing minister, said he understood the doubts of parents but pointed out that there had been no major cause for concern since the vaccination of children in the age group started a month ago.

“I know people can get emotional but at the end of the day it’s about giving maximum protection to our children,” he said, adding research had shown that the benefits of vaccines outweighed the risks.

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