MORE than 9,000 primary school pupils across the country caught Covid-19 in January, according to the Education Ministry, reported Sin Chew Daily.
With case numbers remaining high, Deputy Education Minister Datuk Dr Mah Hang Soon urged the public not to let their guard down.
He said the Health Ministry was working together with his ministry to set up vaccination centres at schools to speed up vaccination among primary school pupils.
Dr Mah, who was visiting SJK(C) San Min No.1 in Teluk Intan on Feb 16, wrote online that state health departments in the country had identified 1,055 schools to serve as vaccination centres for the National Immunisation Programme for Children (PICKids).
PICKids kicked off in the Klang Valley on Feb 3.
As at Feb 7, some 663,641 children aged five to 11 have registered for their shots. The vaccine programme is not compulsory and prioritises children with underlying conditions such as chronic respiratory disease, cardiovascular disease, immunosuppression, diabetes, chronic kidney disease and nerve disease.
There are an estimated four million children aged between five and 11 who are eligible for the vaccine.
> Malaysian singer Dr Soo Wincci (pic) says she turned down a number of suitors who were heirs of wealthy families as well as those with “datuk” titles, adding that women should not be tied down by societal expectations to get married early, reported China Press.
“I don’t want to be a datin; I want to become a datuk myself,” she said, which garnered much praise on social media.
The 36-year-old, who won the Miss World Malaysia pageant in 2008, said despite having studied in Spain for the past five years, she continued to be bombarded by messages from potential suitors, many of whom claimed to be wealthy individuals.
Soo said many of them offered to take care of her, while others had the audacity to offer to keep her as a mistress.
The Petaling Jaya lass has rejected all such proposals.
“If I had wanted that kind of life, I would not have worked so hard to study and work abroad,” she said.
Soo revealed that one of the reasons she pursued her studies abroad was because she was tired of family members pressuring her to get married early.