KUCHING: Parents have been told to make an objective and sensible assessment in allowing their children to get vaccinated against Covid-19 based on information gathered from reliable sources and not fake news.
President of the Association of Boards of Management of Aided Chinese Primary Schools of Kuching, Samarahan and Serian Division Datuk Jonathan Chai said while most parents are supportive of the vaccination programme, others are sceptical of it.
“We understand the concerns of some parents and indeed, we respect their decision against allowing their children to get vaccinated. It’s their right,” he said this after visiting the vaccination programme for SJK Chung Hua No 3 at the MBKS Stadium here today.
Chai said a survey conducted by the Sarawak Health Department found that 60.3 percent of the 41,350 respondents from among parents in the state supported Covid-19 National Immunisation Programme for Kids (PICKids).
However, 14.5 percent of parents were not keen on allowing their children to be vaccinated.
He said his was because they have concerns about complications and side effects of the vaccine.
“Nevertheless, irrespective of the number we achieved for vaccination, we will still do our utmost on our part by strictly adhering to the Standard operating procedures (SOPs) prescribed by the Ministry of Education and State Disaster Management Committee (SDMC),” he said.
“The school boards will provide the necessary support in ensuring sufficient supply of hand sanitisers, disinfectants and other supplies to keep the virus out of the schools,” he added.
He was pleased to see the overwhelming response from the parents at the said school for allowing their children to receive vaccination.
The three-day-programme involved 1,132 students representing 90.27 percent of the student population in the school.
“With the spike of positive cases for the recent Omicron surge, we earnestly hope to achieve a high rate of vaccination among the students so that we could provide a relatively safer environment for them to have physical classes in school,” he said.
