Indonesia to Start Vaccinating Children With the Covid-19 Vaccine

KOMPAS.com – The Indonesian government is aiming to vaccinate at least 32.6 million children against Covid-19, after the Food and Drug Agency or BPOM issued the Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) to use the vaccines on children.

Indonesian Ministry of Health Vaccination spokesperson Siti Nadia Tarmizi said “[parents] who wish to vaccinate their children can register them on the www.pedulilindungi.id website or sign them up at the nearest health facility.”

However, the government has yet to set a date for the mass vaccination.

According to the www.Indonesia.go.id information website, “BPOM issued the EUA to use the Sinovac Covid-19 vaccine on children between the ages of 12 to 17.

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The recommended dosage [for the vaccination is 600 SU/0.5 mL],” the Agency noted among its reasons for the vaccination.

“The immunogenicity for the vaccine is higher, and therefore better, than the lower dosage of 300 SU/0.5 mL.”

“Clinical phase I and phase II tests of the AE systemic profile showed that 12-17 year old’s are likely to have fevers following the vaccination, compared to 3-5 year old or 6 to 11 year old age brackets.”

SHUTTERSTOCK/Nixx Photography A dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna Covid-19 vaccine

However, BPOM has yet to authorize the vaccination of children in the younger age groups.

Minister of Health Budi Gunadi Sadikin noted that the ministry has been trying out different types of vaccines for children under the age of 18.