"I advise all parents not to be hesitant to bring their children to get vaccinated against COVID-19 while this is a government program," Yanuarso said at a press conference monitored online here on Monday.
The National Agency of Drug and Food Control (BPOM) has approved the use of the Sinovac vaccine for children aged 6 to 11 years, he noted. According to the BPOM, the Sinovac vaccine is safe to be administered to children in that age group, he added.
The IDAI chairperson stressed the importance of COVID-19 vaccinations for children considering that the child mortality rate due to COVID-19 in Indonesia is among the highest in the world, even though the percentage is only in the range of 1 percent.
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He also emphasized that vaccinating children is essential, given that they can be virus carriers without showing symptoms and transmit the virus to parents or the elderly, who are vulnerable to the virus.
"Because aside from getting infected, children can also transmit it (the COVID-19 virus). Many children become patients with no symptoms, so they don't get caught and transmit it to everyone, their parents, and their grandparents who have comorbidities. Therefore, the consequences can be fatal," he said.
Yanuarso asserted that IDAI is ready to support the COVID-19 vaccination program for children aged 6 to 11 years just like it supported the vaccinations of children aged 11 to 17 years.
In the near future, IDAI will issue recommendations and procedures for vaccinating children aged 6 to 11 years against COVID-19, he added.
In principle, he said, very few children would have contraindications to the COVID-19 vaccine, and most children can receive the vaccine.
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Translator: Aditya Ramadhan, Raka Adji
Editor: Suharto
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