Siak Riau Regency Government Admits There Are Obstacles In Disseminating COVID Vaccination To Children

Vaccination of children in the province of Riau. (AMONG)

RIAU - Deputy Regent of Siak Riau Province, Husni Merza, admitted that there were obstacles related to the socialization of the implementation of vaccination for children aged 6-11 years which had already begun in his area.

"Some of the obstacles we face include how we can socialize with parents and children that this vaccination is safe and halal," he said in Siak, Antara, Wednesday, January 19.

The Siak Regency Government is still looking for videos or posters related to child vaccination from the Ministry of Health or the Task Force in Riau Province. The socialization poster will later be distributed on social media.

The number two person in Siak also suggested that districts/cities cooperate with the Ministry of Health and the province to intensify socialization to attract children's interest in getting vaccinated.

"Perhaps this way can encourage the acceleration of vaccination for children aged 6-12 years," he added.

The Siak Regency Government itself started the declaration of COVID-19 vaccination for children on January 11, 2022.

The requirement to be able to vaccinate children aged 6-11 years is to have reached more than 70 percent of the COVID-19 vaccination coverage for the general public, and 60 percent of the elderly.

Currently, the coverage of COVID-19 vaccination in Siak Regency has reached 74 percent, and for the elderly it has reached 61 percent.

Previously, the Regent of Siak Alfedri hoped that in the implementation of the COVID-19 vaccination for children, he would get support and participation from all levels of society and education providers so that the target of giving vaccines to more than 60,000 children aged 6-11 years could be carried out properly.

"We also expect support from parents for the vaccination of children aged 6-11 years, so that we hope that herd immunity will also be formed in schools," he said.