Note These 11 Provinces That Will Vaccinate Children 6-11 Years Old

Illustration - Implementation of student vaccination at IPEKA Pluit Christian School. (Photo: Antara)

JAKARTA - Government Spokesperson for COVID-19 Handling Reisa Broto Asmoro said as many as 106 districts and cities from 11 provinces could start a COVID-19 vaccination program for children aged 6 to 11 years because they had met the criteria.

"So far, as many as 8.8 million children from 106 regencies and cities from 11 provinces have met the criteria regarding the minimum target coverage for the first dose of vaccination and the elderly," Reisa said in a Health Radio Health Broadcast which was monitored online in Jakarta, as reported by Antara, Monday, December 13th.

The criteria or conditions for an area to be able to start a COVID-19 vaccination program for children aged 6 to 11 years are having achieved the target of vaccination coverage of at least 70 percent of the first dose of the total target, and a minimum of 60 percent of the coverage of the first dose for the elderly group.

From these criteria, provinces that can start vaccination programs for children 6 to 11 years old include Banten, DI Yogyakarta, DKI Jakarta, West Java, Central Java, East Java, East Kalimantan, Riau Islands, West Nusa Tenggara, North Sulawesi, and Bali.

Meanwhile, the target for vaccination of children aged 6 to 11 years is 26.8 million. The government through the Ministry of Health has also prepared 6.4 million doses of the Sinovac brand vaccine which will be used until the end of December 2021 to vaccinate children under 12 years old.

The Ministry of Health has also determined that the COVID-19 vaccination program for children aged 6 to 11 years will start on December 14, 2021. Vaccination can be carried out at Public Health Center, government or private hospitals, vaccination service posts, or other health facilities.

Reisa urges parents to inform their children in easy-to-understand language that vaccinations will be carried out so that their children are ready when they are vaccinated.

"So from now on, we have started to be able to tell stories, give an illustration to our children who are 6-11 years old that they will be involved in the COVID-19 vaccination program. Of course, with language that is easily understood, so that later when the vaccination time comes, they know, they have been informed, they are ready," said Reisa.