One of 83 Indonesians, who died of COVID-19, was a child. This should draw attention and become a reason to remain vigilant for asymptomatic people to conduct self-isolation.Jakarta (ANTARA) - Children constituted 12.6 percent of the COVID-19 transmission cases in several parts of Indonesia, Chief of the Indonesian Pediatric Society (IDAI) Aman Pulungan stated.
“The national data shows that children up to the age of 18 years with confirmed COVID-19 constitute 12.6 percent (of the total transmission cases),” the IDAI chief noted in Jakarta on Tuesday.
One of the eight people exposed to COVID-19 were from the child age bracket, Pulungan noted, adding that children currently also fall in the criteria of people running the risk of succumbing to COVID-19.
Children can fall ill and die of COVID-19 based on the comorbidity they experience, he explained.
“Anybody can develop comorbidities, such as obesity, tuberculosis, and hypertension, be it children under five and the youth,” he stated.
To this end, the IDAI recommends that 10 percent of the children get vaccinated against COVID-19, he remarked.
“One of 83 Indonesians, who died of COVID-19, was a child. This should draw attention and become a reason to remain vigilant for asymptomatic people to conduct self-isolation,” he emphasized.
Pulungan noted that children could transmit COVID-19 among other family members.
“I suggest that all activities of children in the 0-18 age group should be conducted online. Prevent children from venturing out of their homes, teach them to remain disciplined in following health protocols, immunize children, and intensify breastfeeding,” he stressed.
The IDAI commended the government’s policy to vaccinate children in the age group of 12 and 17 years against COVID-19.
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The Indonesian Health Ministry is considering the use of Sinovac and Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines for children below 18 years of age.
"We are studying vaccines that already have emergency-use authorization (EUA) for young people," Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin stated during an online press conference broadcast on the Presidential Secretariat’s YouTube channel here on last Friday.
Sinovac has been approved for people in the age group of three to 17 years, while Pfizer has obtained approval for the 12-17 age group, he noted.
The ministry has deliberated with the Indonesia Technical Advisory Group on Immunization (ITAGI) over conducting COVID-19 vaccination of children, Sadikin remarked.
The government is also monitoring how countries in Europe and Asia and also the United States are conducting COVID-19 vaccinations of children, he stated.
Citing global data, he remarked that 99 percent of the COVID-19 cases in the under 18 age group can be cured.
China has approved the emergency use of Sinovac’s COVID-19 vaccine for children as young as three, Sinovac Biotech Ltd confirmed.
Canada, the US, and the EU have already authorized the Pfizer vaccine for children as young as 12, while the UK has recently approved the use of Pfizer’s vaccine for children in the age group of 12 to 15 years.
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Translator: Andi Firdaus/Suharto
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
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