KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 24 ― Health clinics nationwide have been instructed to immunise babies only once each day to allay concerns over possible side effects.

Health deputy director-general Datuk Dr Lokman Hakim Sulaiman said that while there was no evidence to suggest that multiple vaccinations could lead to autism, he conceded that the ruling was meant to placate parents’ fears.

He explained that immunisation shots were only given once each day as stated in the National Immunisation Schedule, adding that providing two jabs on the same day happened only when a child has missed his or her scheduled injection.

In such cases, Dr Lokman said parents could also discuss with the health care provider to reschedule the additional immunisations to another day.

"We have informed healthcare personnel in clinics of this," he was quoted as saying in a report by The Star newspaper today.

The misconception that multiple vaccinations on the same day led to autism, Dr Lokman reportedly said, stemmed from a medical report by Dr Andrew Wakefield in 1998 in the Lancet medical journal.

The Lancet later withdrew the report due to insufficient data.

Dr Lokman reportedly said a study in Japan showed that despite reducing the immunisation rate of the MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) vaccine, which many linked to autism, there was no significant drop in the number of autism cases.

In the same news report, Persama Together For Autism founder Thila Laxshman claimed that some parents in the group had their children develop the disease when two vaccinations were administered on the same day.

"Our children were born normal but developed brain development disorders after the injections," she was quoted as saying.

The National Autism Society of Malaysia (Nasom) has repeatedly rubbished the link between inoculation and autism.

Despite studies showing otherwise, anti-vaccine groups continue to believe that vaccinations, specifically the MMR jab, can cause autism if administered more than once daily.

The anti-vaccination movement has been prevalent in the West for over two decades, and has begun to gain traction here.