Deputy Governor Of DKI Riza Encourages Acceleration Of Vaccination For Children 6-11 Years Anticipating Omicron

Deputy Governor of DKI Jakarta Riza Patria/IST

JAKARTA - Deputy Governor of DKI Jakarta Ahmad Riza Patria asked for COVID-19 vaccination for children 6-11 years old to be carried out immediately to anticipate the new variant of the COVID-19 virus, Omicron.

"The Health Office continues to monitor Omicron through WHO sources, the Ministry of Health and other reliable sources. Then we will try to push for a vaccine for children aged 6-11 years to be implemented immediately," Riza said at the Jakarta City Hall, quoted by ntara, Monday, December 6 night.

In addition, Riza said that his party also encourages the injection of a third (booster) vaccination, especially for the elderly and comorbid, considering that the victims died were those who had not been vaccinated and had severe comorbidities.

"Then we make sure to increase supervision and 3T," he said.

In addition, he said that the entry of foreign nationals from abroad must also be anticipated.

However, he stressed that the government has regulated that foreign travelers are required to undergo quarantine, even increasing it to 10 days from the original seven days.

"Overseas travel has been arranged and travelers are required to quarantine for seven days and now it is 10 days. So, the central government has made as much effort as possible," he said.

Previously, the COVID-19 Handling Task Force issued Circular Letter Number 23 of 2021 concerning International Travel Health Protocols during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

This Circular, which was signed by the Head of the COVID-19 Task Force, Suharyanto, is effective from November 29, 2021, until a time to be determined later.

With the enactment of this Circular Letter, Circular Letter Number 20 of 2021 and the Addendum to Circular Letter Number 20 of 2021 are revoked and declared invalid.

The issuance of this SE is based on the consideration that at this time a new variant has been found, namely RS-CoV B.1.1 from South Africa. The distribution of the new variant has spread to several countries in the world.

The emergence of a new variant of SARS-CoV-2 B.1.1.529 or Omicron has caused an increase in cases, especially in the Southern African continent.

In fact, the world health organization (WHO) and its experts have agreed to set the variant discovered in early November 2021 to be a variant of concern.