Minister Of Health: 115 Regencies/Cities Can Hold COVID-19 Vaccines For Children Under 12 Years Old

Minister of Health Budi Gunadi Sadikin/DOK Ministry of Health

JAKARTA - Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin said there are hundreds of regencies/cities that can start injecting the COVID-19 vaccine for children aged 6-11 years old on Tuesday, December 14.

Hundreds of these areas are considered to have met criteria such as massive provision of the first vaccine and vaccines for the elderly (elderly).

"Those who are allowed to vaccinate children are districts/cities that have met the criteria for 70 percent of the first vaccination and 60 percent of vaccines for the elderly," Budi said in a press conference broadcast on the Presidential Secretariat's YouTube, Monday, December 13.

"So we identified 115 regencies/cities in several provinces that meet these criteria for which we will allocate the Sinovac vaccine to be able to start vaccinating children 6-11 years old starting tomorrow," he added.

Meanwhile, the time span for giving the first and second COVID-19 vaccines for children under 12 years old will not be different from other age groups, namely one month.

"It's the same as other Sinovac vaccines. So the time difference is given for one month or four weeks. The dosage is the same," said the former Deputy Minister of BUMN.

Previously, the Ministry of Health allocated 6.4 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine for children aged 6-11 years on the first day of vaccination.

Meanwhile, General Chairperson of the Central Executive Board of the Indonesian Pediatrician Association (IDAI) Piprim Basarah Yanuarso said the Sinovac vaccine, which has received an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) from BPOM, is safe for children aged 6-11 years.

"I hope parents don't worry because God willing, this COVID-19 vaccine is safe. In fact, in some studies, the side effects of this vaccine on children are much lighter than for adults, with higher effectiveness for children than for adults," said Piprim in a talk show entitled 'Child Vaccines, Love Families' quoted by Antara, Monday, November 8.

According to him, about 90 percent of children who took part in clinical trials did not feel any side effects from Sinovac's COVID-19 vaccine. While the rest only felt local effects such as fever and mild pain around the area where the vaccine was injected.

"If the child is still agile, parents don't need to worry. So parents need to observe, try to get the child to get enough rest, don't get too tired after the vaccine," said Piprim.

For children with special needs, parents are asked to monitor more closely. Observation is necessary because sometimes children cannot express what is bothering them.