PETALING JAYA: Children aged five to 11 who are unable to receive the Comirnaty vaccine for health reasons will be offered the CoronaVac vaccine from today, says the Health Ministry.

       “Parents who do not want their children to get the Comirnaty vaccine (from Pfizer-BioNTech) can opt to give their children the CoronaVac vaccine,” said Deputy Health Minister Dr Noor Azmi Ghazali.

       He said CoronaVac would be available at selected vaccination centres.

       The CoronaVac Suspension for Injection Covid-19 Vaccine (Vero Cell) Inactivated was approved for children aged five to 11 by the Drug Control Authority last Thursday. The vaccine is produced by Sinovac Life Sciences Co Ltd China and Pharmaniaga Lifescience Sdn Bhd.

       “Parents can check the list of centres offering the CoronaVac vaccine on a walk-in basis on the Health Ministry’s website or ProtectHealth Corporation’s website,” he said in a statement yesterday.

       Dr Noor Azmi said two doses of the CoronaVac vaccine, administered with an interval of four weeks, would be needed to be fully vaccinated.

       “Based on data in CovidNow as at March 5, the Covid-19 infection rate among children under the age of 12 has shown a significant increase.

       “In January this year, the ministry granted approval for the Comirnaty vaccine for children with underlying health conditions including low immunity, chronic lung disease, heart disease, diabetes and obesity, among others,” he said.

       CoronaVac was earlier approved for conditional use for individuals aged 12 and above.