Among the experts were consultant pediatrician Dr Amar-Singh HSS, who said vaccination should be a top priority for parents with children whose immune system has been compromised.

“Children who are physically disabled with muscular problems such as cerebral palsy, are immunocompromised, or with chronic illnesses like heart disease and diabetes are more likely to get severe Covid infection and die from it,” he said.

He also said comorbidities (existing severe illnesses) were the cause of 70% of children’s deaths.

Speaking at an online forum on the need for vaccinations, Amar quashed claims that the Covid-19 vaccine can trigger or stimulate cancers. He said there is no data that proves such claims.

“If you have cancer and are still under treatment, you may have not responded well to the vaccine. You may have lingering immunodeficiency. So it is very important that you get vaccinated as you are more susceptible to get a severe Covid infection and die from it. You would probably need a booster (dose) as well,” he said at the event.

Children with cancer should receive booster shots as their immune responses may not be adequate after the primary doses. “Such a child is the one that I would want to protect from the current Omicron wave,” he said.

In the same event, consultant pediatric intensivist Dr Anis Siham Zainal Abidin said that children who had been severely infected by Covid-19 might suffer from multisystem inflammatory syndrome which targets the heart.

She said older children would have symptoms such as chest pain and chest tightness, while younger children suffer lethargy, vomiting, diarrhoea and sometimes fits and seizures.

Parents whose children showed such symptoms should have them admitted to hospital immediately, and get them vaccinated to reduce the impact of the illness.

Infected children who have finished their quarantine should be vaccinated upon recovery as soon as possible, said consultant pediatric and infectious disease specialist Dr Fong Siew Moy.

Consultant pediatrician and neonatologist Dr Musa Mohd Nordin on the other hand suggested that the children be vaccinated two weeks after they ended their quarantine, to reduce the risk of multisystem inflammatory syndrome.

Parents should make this choice immediately, he said, quoting research from the UK which has shown that children get reinfected after three months.