Ministry Of Health: 5.3 Million Children Have Been Vaccinated Against COVID-19
JAKARTA - A total of 5.3 million children aged 6 to 11 years in Indonesia have now received the COVID-19 vaccine since the program was launched on December 14.
"A total of 5.3 million children are spread across 19 provinces in 114 regencies/cities," said Ministry of Health Spokesperson Siti Nadia Tarmizi, quoted by Antara, Friday, January 7.
Nadia said there are still people who refuse vaccines for children on the grounds of doubt due to the influence of fake news or hoaxes.
"The reasons for those who refuse are quite diverse. They still don't believe it, they are afraid of side effects, the problem of hoaxes too," he said.
Nadia appealed to parents not to hesitate to include their children in the COVID-19 vaccination.
"Of course we have to be sure because the government has gone through various studies, including the safety of using this vaccine, where the benefits are very large in protecting children," he said.
Separately, Member of the DPR from the Golkar Party Fraction, Wenny Haryanto, stated that the benefits of the COVID-19 vaccine for children can protect against exposure to COVID-19 and provide security when carrying out face-to-face learning.
Other benefits, said Wenny, stimulate the immune system, reduce the risk of body transmission, and break down the severe impact of the virus.
"Regarding the mutated COVID-19, there is no need to be afraid, but we also must not underestimate this, therefore we must prepare preventive measures to deal with the mutated COVID-19 virus," he said.
The preventive measures in question are in the form of complying with health protocols and keeping the body's immune system stable through healthy activities.
He added that the Indonesian people who had received the COVID-19 vaccine, both adults and children, were still in good health and active as usual.
"So the vaccines currently circulating can be said to be safe for use by anyone, in this case it can be used for children," he said.