High Risk Of Death, Malang City Starts Vaccination For Pregnant Women

A pregnant woman receives an injection of the COVID-19 vaccine at the Brawijaya University Hospital, in Malang City, East Java/ Antara

JAKARTA - Malang City has started the implementation of COVID-19 vaccination for pregnant women to minimize the risk of being exposed to the corona virus for these vulnerable groups.

Chairman of the Indonesian Obstetrics and Gynecology Association (POGI) Malang Branch, Dr. Sutrisno, said that during the COVID-19 pandemic, cases of maternal deaths due to exposure to the corona virus increased.

"The risk of pregnant women being exposed to COVID-19 is the same as the general public. So, we prioritize getting vaccinated immediately," said Sutrisno in Malang City, East Java, as reported by Antara, Thursday, August 19.

Sutrisno explained that pregnant women who were exposed to COVID-19 had a ten-fold risk compared to someone who was not pregnant and was exposed to the virus that first broke out in Wuhan, China.

He added that the vulnerable conditions experienced by these pregnant women, during the gestation period of 13-33 weeks. At that time, the body condition and immunity of pregnant women tend to decrease.

Therefore, he continued, COVID-19 vaccination for pregnant women needs to be carried out in an effort to increase their body's immunity so that they can minimize severe symptoms that arise when exposed to the corona virus.

"Pregnancy is a weighting factor. Because during pregnancy it makes the mother's immune system go down, and when exposed to COVID-19, it will be heavier," he said. During the vaccination this time, there were 50 pregnant women who received an injection of the COVID-19 vaccine. The vaccine given to pregnant women is the Sinovac vaccine. Vaccination will be given in two doses in stages.

Pregnant women who undergo COVID-19 vaccination must also pass several stages of health checks like other people. If they pass the screening stage, pregnant women will receive an injection of the Sinovac vaccine.

It was recorded, overall in Malang City there were 13,719 positive confirmed cases of COVID-19. Of the total, 11,563 people were reported to have recovered, 991 people were declared dead, and the rest were under treatment.