KUCHING: There are strange ways to get things done. The recent announcement that COVID-19 vaccines will be offered for a fee at private health centres beginning May 15 could spur parents to get their children vaccinated as soon as possible.
Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas) Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences public health expert Associate Professor Dr Helmy Hazmi said it was still possible to achieve the 80 per cent vaccination target for children in Sarawak.
“It is understandable why the May 15 deadline was set as the last day for free vaccination for children.
“The slow uptake and the cost of maintaining the number of allocated vaccines for children is not cheap. The vaccines have their own shelf life too.
“I hope those who really want the vaccine and who come from low-income families are well informed of this recent announcement,” he told New Sarawak Tribune yesterday (April 18).
In this last leg of the children’s vaccination drive, probably a more active and targeted approach could help boost the number of children’s vaccine uptake. Parents could be more receptive this time around as compared to the time when the drive started, he said.
At the same time, Dr Helmy said there was a need to ensure that senior citizens and those with comorbidities (the higher risk group) be given the booster dose as soon as possible.
“The unused vaccines can possibly be repurposed for that. There are many reasons for the low uptake.
“Hesitancy over the safety profile of the vaccines fuelled by unverified hearsays that spread through social media are the main culprits.
“Despite the medical authorities with no vested interest explaining the immense benefit over risk of these vaccines, still, hesitancy persisted.
“Background, health beliefs and the values that they hold are things that cannot change overnight by just a simple text message or promotional poster,” he said.
On parental responses that he had encountered, he said there were mixed perspectives on their willingness and acceptance to get their children vaccinated.
Most of the parents preferred the wait-and-see approach, but in the end were convinced on the vaccines safety profile for children, he added.
“It’s usually the “flock mentality” that influences parents’ decision. If the whole class goes for vaccination, the hesitancy threshold would come down.
“In such a sense, parents who are healthcare workers and have gotten their children vaccinated have the responsibility to be the promotional agents to hesitant parents,” he said.
