PETALING JAYA: Parents and students are all for prioritising exam-year students for vaccinations so that schools can open soon.
Parent Action Group for Education Malaysia chairman Datin Noor Azimah Abdul Rahim said it was also a good idea to have vaccinations for students carried out at schools.
“If students can be completely vaccinated as soon as possible, schools may open earlier than planned, too, ” she told The Star.
She also said that schools should be used only as vaccine centres for students as security might be a challenge if the premises were turned into public vaccine dispensing centres.
Noor Azimah said vaccine supply should not be an issue as a large supply of doses was expected this month and July.
However, she noted that logistics matters in administering the vaccines to students in a timely manner might pose a challenge.
Melaka Action Group for Parents in Education chairman Mak Chee Kin said the vaccine rollout for students should commence as soon as possible.
“Preferably before we reach Phase 3 and schools resume face-to-face sessions, ” he said.
Wait is over: Jiazen and Mohamed Shahrizal are looking forward to being vaccinated.
Educationist Datuk N. Siva Subramaniam said vaccinating the students was “essential”.
“We cannot avoid vaccinating the students, especially since the government has approved the use of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for those above the age of 12, ” he said.
Meanwhile, Form Five students are relieved that the wait is finally over for them to be vaccinated.
Chen Jiazen, 17, said he had been waiting to get his Pfizer-BioNTech shot.
Although the teenager from Subang Jaya is not fond of anything involving needles, including injections, he wants to be vaccinated and play his part in achieving herd immunity.
Another student, Mohamed Shahrizal Samsudeen, 17, said he could not wait for things to get back to normal, return to school and prepare for his upcoming Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia examination.
“As Malaysian citizens, we must help our country to overcome this pandemic and help the government to stop the virus from spreading widely, ” he added.
