Chief of the West Jakarta Metropolitan Police, Police Grand Commissioner Ady Wibowo, lauded the collaboration between the private sector and government in expediting the COVID-19 vaccination, particularly for children and teenagers.
"In West Jakarta itself, the enthusiasm for vaccination of children aged 12-17 years is extraordinary. Earlier, the West Jakarta Police had also conducted vaccination in stages," Wibowo noted in an official statement quoted on Wednesday.
Wibowo explained that as of July 16, the government had vaccinated 50 thousand people in West Jakarta. To this end, he was sanguine that the "Cheerful Vaccine" Program would be a follow-up program to expedite the realization of herd immunity, especially for children in the age bracket of 12-17 years.
The "Cheerful Vaccine" program for children and teenagers results from a collaboration between the West Jakarta Metro Police, through the Criminal Investigation Unit, and the Women and Children Protection (PPA) Unit and PT United Family Food (Unifarm) that was held to celebrate National Children's Day on July 23, 2021.
Related news: State Intelligence Agency launches vaccinations for 12,000 children
The vaccination, held on July 17-24, 2021, at SMAN 2 Jakarta & SMAN 33 Jakarta, targets children of 12 to 17 years of age. On account of the high level of enthusiasm among residents to get vaccinated, the "Cheerful Vaccine" event, initially scheduled to end on July 23, was extended to July 24, 2021.
"As a company that upholds family values, Unifam is keen to help parents in easing their concerns (regarding children's risk of COVID-19 infection) through this vaccination program," CEO of Unifam, Steven Wijaya, stated.
Citing data from the Indonesian Pediatrician Association (IDAI), as of June 2021, as many as 12.5 percent of children up to 18 years of age in Indonesia had contracted COVID-19.
The IDAI drew attention to the relatively high number of new positive cases among children in Jakarta. On June 17, 2021, a total of 661 positive cases were recorded among children, of which 144 were kids below the age of five.
West Jakarta Mayor Uus Kuswanto welcomed the vaccination program as the government had outlined a target to vaccinate 26 thousand people per day until August 17, 2021. Related news: KPAI presses for improvement on child care issues
Translator: Alviansyah P, Raka Adji
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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