Under the program, BIN held simultaneous vaccinations in six provinces -- West Java, Central Java, Banten, Riau, West Kalimantan, and South Sulawesi, BIN head Budi Gunawan informed in Jakarta on Monday.
President Joko Widodo has tasked BIN with vaccinating students from several schools given the high COVID-19 positivity rate among children, he said.
"For that, BIN was tasked by Mr. President to vaccinate middle and high schoolers in order to save the future generations and (provide) the family support," he remarked.
With two thousand Sinovac vaccines allocated per province, the total number of vaccines for the six provinces stood at 12 thousand, Gunawan said.
While monitoring the vaccinations of middle and high school students at Sekolah Kesatuan Pelajar, Bogor, West Java on Monday, the BIN head emphasized the importance of inoculating students given the continued rise in COVID-19 cases of late.
Children account for 9 percent of active COVID-19 cases recorded across Indonesia, he informed.
Children, especially students, are prone to the virus, and they can transmit it to their families, he said.
"Spread (of infections) among students tends to grow. One in nine (COVID-19) cases are kids, and the number of Indonesian children infected by COVID-19 makes up to 9 percent of the total infected (cases)," he added.
Of the 2.9 million COVID-19 infections recorded in Indonesia, children have accounted for 250 thousand cases, he further informed.
"Apart from that, kids are one of the spreaders in family clusters, which have contributed to 85 percent of positive cases in Indonesia," he added.
He said he hoped the vaccination program organized by BIN would help curb the spread of COVID-19 as well as bring down the death toll.
Students vaccinated during BIN's event in the 6 provinces also received packages of vitamins to boost their immunity, he added.
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Translator: Mecca Yumna Ning Prisie
Editor: Suharto
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