"This weekend, there will be a kick-off of vaccinations for children in collaboration with us in Yogyakarta city," head of the Yogyakarta City Health Office, Emma Rahmi Aryani, announced here on Thursday.
According to Aryani, the technical guidelines for the vaccination program are still being finalized to ensure the entire process can be carried out properly.
The vaccinations are planned to be held in schools and will be administered by officers from the community health center (puskesmas) of each area, based on the school's location, she informed.
She affirmed that her office will deploy more health personnel to assist in the implementation, if needed.
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Aryani informed that Sinovac vaccines will be used for the program, in accordance with the Ministry of Health's regulation.
"Although the side effects of the Sinovac vaccine tend to be mild, we still have to anticipate various potential adverse events following immunization (AEFI) because, after all, the vaccine recipients are children," she said.
The Yogyakarta City Health Office has also asked schools to help disseminate information regarding the vaccinations to parents, she added.
Vaccinations for children will be conducted in accordance with the recommendation of the Indonesian Technical Advisory Group on Immunization (ITAGI) through Circular number 166/ITAGI/Adm/XII/2021, dated December 9, 2021, regarding the Study of COVID-19 Vaccination in Children aged 6–11 years old.
Minister of Health, Budi Gunadi Sadikin, has also issued Health Minister's Decree Number HK.01.07./MENKES/6688/2021 on the implementation of vaccination for the CoronaVirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) for Children Aged 6 to 11 years. He signed the decree on December 13, 2021.
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Translator: Eka Arifia, Raka Adji
Editor: Suharto
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