Ministry Of Health: Vaccination Of Children To Protect From Serious Illness And Death

ILLUSTRATION BETWEEN

JAKARTA - Spokesperson for COVID-19 Vaccination, Ministry of Health, Siti Nadia Tarmizi said the government's policy of providing vaccinations for children aged 6-11 years aims to protect against serious illness and death from COVID-19.

"As of December 14, the government officially issued a policy to vaccinate children aged 6-11 years," Nadia said in a press conference quoted by Antara, Wednesday, December 15.

In addition to protecting children, he continued, it also aims to suppress transmission to other age groups, as well as accelerate the achievement of herd immunity.

Nadia said that the government is targeting as many as 26.4 million children aged 6-11 years to get complete vaccinations according to the schedule.

He added that the vaccine used by children aged 6-11 years is Sinovac, which will be given in two doses with a gap of 28 days.

"We hope for support from all parties, especially parents and teachers to accompany and cooperate with local health workers to ensure that children get their rights to be protected from COVID-19," he said.

Nadia also said that there are several important points of vaccination for children aged 6-11 years, namely preventing serious illness and death in infected children.

Then, prevent transmission to family members and relatives, support the implementation of face-to-face learning and minimize transmission that may occur in schools or in educational units.

"In the end, vaccination of children will contribute to accelerating the achievement of herd immunity," he said.

Nadia said that the "kick off" implementation of vaccination for children aged 6-11 years had taken place in provinces with a dose coverage of one dose above 70 percent and vaccination for the elderly above 60 percent.

"In the first stage, there are 115 regencies and cities in 19 provinces that have met these criteria so that the implementation of vaccination for children aged 6-11 years can be carried out immediately," said Nadia.