Asking For Speedy Child Vaccination, Madam: Prevent Fatigue From Studying At Home For Too Long

JAKARTA - Chairperson of the Indonesian House of Representatives, Puan Maharani, has urged the government to immediately implement COVID-19 vaccination for children aged 6-11 years. Puan wants to make sure face-to-face learning (PTM) can be more effective.

"We hope that the implementation of vaccines for children under 12 years old can be implemented immediately. With vaccination, children can quickly return to school safely," said Puan in a written statement, Tuesday, November 9.

The Food and Drug Supervisory Agency (BPOM) has issued an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for the provision of vaccinations for children 6-11 years old. Although the permit for emergency use of the Sinovac vaccine has been issued, the government targets vaccination to be carried out in early 2022.

The Ministry of Health (Kemenkes) said that the implementation could only start next year due to budget problems and priority vaccination schemes based on the risk of COVID-19. Puan hopes the target can be accelerated.

"So that PTM can be wider because vaccination can protect children to prevent clusters of positive COVID-19 children when PTM has started," he continued.

"This PTM needs to be implemented immediately to prevent fatigue due to children studying at home for too long," continued Puan.

The former Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Culture hopes that the implementation of PTM can be evenly distributed for all children, starting from areas with the lowest positive levels (Level 1 or Level 0) to higher levels so that vaccination for children must be a priority.

Puan asked the government to prepare infrastructure, including health facilities and medical personnel, tailored to the needs of children under 12 years old.

"We support the Ministry of Health's cooperation with schools and the Social Service in implementing child vaccinations. It just needs to be remembered, children 6-11 years old need special treatment, so the government must prepare it," he said.

Later, a mandatory requirement for children to be vaccinated against COVID-19 must have a population identification number (NIK). The government will ask for NIK as data collection for child vaccinations.

"Parents need to prepare a NIK, and for children who do not have it, we urge parents to immediately visit the village or sub-district in their respective places of residence to take care of it," said Puan.

The grandson of the Proclaimer Bung Karno also asked parents not to hesitate to bring their children to inject the Covid-19 vaccine. Puan reminded, the benefits of vaccines are very large for the safety of children.

"Parents need not worry because based on several studies, the effectiveness of vaccines for children is actually higher than for adults," he concluded.