KUALA LUMPUR (THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) - A total 39 children aged from five to 11 years have died from Covid-19 since the pandemic started two years ago, says Datuk Deputy Health Minister Dr Noor Azmi Ghazali.

"Between Jan 25, 2020 and March 6, 2022, there were a total of 748,037 cases involving those below 18 years old.

"From this total, 301,268 cases (40.3 per cent) involved those from five to 11.

"There were 157 fatalities due to Covid-19 among those 18 and below, 39 of which were children aged five to 11 years" he said in Dewan Rakyat on Tuesday (March 8).

He added that there had been an increase in Covid-19 infections among the young after schools reopened earlier this year.

"The Omicron variant spreads much easier, increasing the risk of infection among children.

"As of March 5, there has been a drastic increase in Covid-19 infections among those aged below 12, with 123,053 confirmed cases since January this year," he said.

He added that there have been cases of young children requiring intensive care unit (ICU) treatment.

Meanwhile, Dr Noor Azmi, who is in charge of the Covid-19 Immunisation Programme for Children (PICKids), said that as of Feb 3 this year, a total of 1,041,733 children between five and 11 had received their first vaccination dose.

On adverse events following immunisation (AEFI), he said that only 94 cases were reported as of Feb 25 involving those aged five to 11, or 0.1 per cent out of 1,000 doses administered.

"Of the 94, only two were categorised as serious.

"Most common reports of AEFI are fever, stress due to the injection, rashes, dizziness and headaches," he said, adding that investigations were still being carried out with the two serious cases.

Dr Noor Azmi noted that real-world data on the use of the Comirnaty vaccine for five- to 11-year-olds showed that the risk of myocarditis was very low.

He said the Comirnaty vaccine, specifically formulated for young children, was approved for use by authorities here on Jan 6.

He added that authorities had also approved the use of the CoronaVac vaccine for children on March 3.