PUTRAJAYA – The Health Ministry has plans to include senior citizens in the National Immunisation Programme (NIP) for free influenza shots, said minister Datuk Seri Dzulkefly Ahmad.
To be given to those aged 65 and above, the ministry is working on obtaining funds under Budget 2025 at the earliest.
“It is still in discussion. We know the elderly are susceptible to risks (of influenza),” he told a press conference during the National Immunisation Week celebration at the Zenith Hotel, here, today.
“We hope for next year, (in) Budget 2025 or the next, we will apply to include the NIP for those aged 65 and above.”
The plan is for influenza shots to be given annually to the elderly, he added.
Currently, the NIP covers 10 vaccinations for 13 major childhood diseases such as diphtheria, hepatitis B, measles, mumps, whooping cough, polio, rubella and tuberculosis.
Earlier, Dzulkefly also said the government had approved implementation of a combination diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis (D-TaP) vaccination for pregnant mothers, to begin by the end of this year.
“(The vaccination) is expected to be at the end of 2024, to protect newborns from pertussis, or whooping cough,” he said.
Also present was Datuk Dr Zulkifli Ismail, chair of the Immunise4Life technical committee, who explained that the D-TaP shots would be for mothers pregnant in their third trimester, and would be required for every pregnancy.
The NIP currently also covers other groups according to sector, such as typhoid shots for food handlers, influenza shots for frontliners in the health sector, and meningococcal shots for those performing the haj. – May 13, 2024