Not Only Sinovac, BPOM Opens Opportunities For Other COVID-19 Vaccines That Can Be Injected Into Children

ILLUSTRATION/UNSPLASH

JAKARTA - Head of the Food and Drug Supervisory Agency (BPOM) Penny K Lukito said there are still a number of brands of COVID-19 vaccines that can be given to children aged 6-11 years. However, the use of other types of vaccines is still waiting for the results of clinical trials.

This was conveyed after announcing that the Sinovac type of COVID-19 vaccine can now be given to children under the age of 12.

"We are waiting in the near future, of course, there will be more vaccines that will soon be registered with BPOM to be used by children aged 6-11 years," said Penny in a press conference that was broadcast online, Monday, November 1.

Penny said that the more types of COVID-19 vaccines that can be given to children, the faster they will get protection from exposure to the virus. So that in the future, people will no longer hesitate to send their children back to school for face-to-face learning.

"More and more segments of children who get the COVID-19 vaccine, especially when we face learning programs in the future, are expected to increase the trust of parents to send their children to school," said Penny.

As for the provision of the COVID-19 vaccine for early childhood, namely under 6 years, BPOM has not yet given the green light. The reason, said Penny, is that his party is still collecting further data to ensure its safety.

"Under the age of 6, we are still trying to get more complete data because of course early childhood needs more caution for us to give permission with the evaluation team," he said.

Previously, BPOM officially authorized the emergency use authorization (EUA) of the Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine for use in children aged 6-11 years.

Regarding the vaccination, the Minister of Health (Menkes) Budi Gunadi Sadikin said some time ago that the provision of the COVID-19 vaccine to children under 12 years of age would likely be carried out in early 2022 or after clinical trials were completed.

There are three types of vaccines that are currently being tested for use in children. The vaccines are Sinovac, Sinopharm, and Pfizer.