Malaysia health minister Khairy refutes claims that his son was injected with air instead of COVID-19 vaccine

PETALING JAYA: Malaysian Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin has refuted claims that his son was injected with air instead of COVID-19 vaccine.

In a Twitter post on Wednesday (Feb 16), Mr Khairy said that although there have been lies that his son was injected with air, there are now more parents who have faith in the vaccine.

“Don’t disturb others who want their children vaccinated,” he tweeted. 

Mr Khairy had shared a video of his six-year-old son Raif being vaccinated on Sunday, but some people commented on social media that it was just “for show” and that his son had not actually been given a COVID-19 vaccine.

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To refute claims that the vaccination was not properly done, the Ministry of Health shared a video of the nurse’s explanation on its social media accounts on Wednesday. 

The unnamed nurse who administered the jab on Raif explained that her method of hiding the syringe needle with her hand is a good way of calming children.

“I did not remove any vaccine that (did not end up) being injected into the children’s body,” the nurse said.

She also asked the public to stop the baseless allegations that the vaccination was not properly conducted.

Following the nurse’s explanation, Mr Khairy said in another tweet that he stood by her conduct, which he described as very good and professional.

In the clip of Raif receiving his first jab of COVID-19 vaccine, the nurse had shown Mr Khairy, who was holding the camera, the paediatric dosage of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.

His wife Nori Abdullah was seen holding Raif’s hand. 

Mr Khairy was heard joking with the nurse and asking if the syringe was filled with air, to which the nurse replied: “No! This is 0.2ml, kid’s dose.” 

"Relieved that he has been protected from COVID-19," Mr Khairy had said on Twitter following Raif’s vaccination, while urging other parents to register their kids for the vaccination programme.

Malaysia's vaccination drive for children aged between five and 12 began on Feb 3. 

According to the Ministry of Health’s figures, a total of 892,974 children have registered for the vaccination, while 246,869 children have received their first dose as of Tuesday.

Malaysia reported 22,133 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, marking the fifth consecutive day of over 20,000 daily infections. 

It is Malaysia’s second highest daily tally this year, after reporting 22,802 new cases on Saturday. 

Mr Khairy had said that the Omicron wave is expected to peak in the second half of March.