DAP’s Teo Nie Ching said despite the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme coordinating minister Khairy Jamaluddin’s announcement that the Sinovac and AstraZeneca vaccines were not advised for these groups, the registration form for vaccinations had made zero changes regarding this issue.
Khairy had also recently said that pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers were advised to only take the Pfizer vaccine if they were considering Covid-19 vaccination.
“How will the data algorithm then determine whether a pregnant woman or nursing mother will be registered for the Pfizer vaccine as per Khairy’s statement?
“And how will the government know how much of the Pfizer vaccine they need to reserve and allocate for this group of women?” the Kulai MP asked.
The former deputy education minister also noted that no further announcements had been made on how the Covid-19 Immunisation Task Force would coordinate with hospitals and specialists to ensure that expectant and nursing mothers were given the priority to receive the Pfizer vaccine.
“We have to keep asking because as stated by Khairy, the Pfizer vaccine is only suitable for pregnant women between weeks 14 and 33, or their vaccinations will be deferred,” she said.
Teo said any further delays would mean that more pregnant women would be denied access to vaccines prior to delivery.
She added that the health ministry must also amend the registration form for the AstraZeneca vaccine before public registrations reopened for those below 60 so that pregnant and nursing mothers would not be administered the AstraZeneca vaccine by mistake.
FMT reported today that a campaign was launched for clear guidelines about vaccinations for expectant mothers as daily Covid-19 cases soar to an all-time high.
Liyana Helmy Had, who is pregnant with her second child, said there was still a lack of clarification about the vaccination process, with questions remaining over her chances in receiving the Pfizer vaccine, the only one recommended by the government for expecting and breastfeeding mothers.
She launched a petition, supported by more than 2,000 signatories, for more detailed guidelines.
Earlier today, Teo and Bakri MP Yeo Bee Yin also stated they backed Liyana’s petition, and called for Malaysians to lend their support to the campaign.
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