"Fathers and mothers, do not forget to vaccinate your children so that they are healthy," he remarked in a written statement received here on Wednesday.
At the launch of the second phase of the National Children’s Immunization Month (BIAN) at Karawang District Hospital, West Java, on Wednesday, he informed that during the COVID-19 pandemic, the coverage of complete basic immunization among infants had dropped dramatically, resulting in an immunity gap.
According to the minister, if the immunity gap is not addressed immediately, there will be an increase in cases and extraordinary events, which will become a double burden amid the pandemic.
During the 2019–2021 period, there were more than 1.7 million babies in Indonesia who had not received basic immunization, he revealed. Of the total infants, more than 600 thousand, or about 37.5 percent, were from Java and Bali islands.
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To handle the low childhood immunization coverage, the Ministry of Health has rolled out the BIAN program in two phases. The first phase of the program has been implemented since May 18, 2022, in Sumatra, Kalimantan, Sulawesi, Nusa Tenggara, Maluku, and Papua.
Under the first phase of immunization, the measles-rubella vaccine has been provided to children aged 9 to 15 months. Further, children aged 12 to 59 months who have not completed immunization have been provided the inactivated polio vaccine (IPV), oral polio vaccine (OPV), and the DPT-HB-Hib vaccine, which, according to the Health Ministry's website, is administered to prevent six diseases, namely diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, hepatitis B, pneumonia, and meningitis.
Meanwhile, the second phase of immunization started recently in all areas of Java and Bali. The vaccines offered under the second face have included the measles-rubella vaccine for children aged 9 to 59 months and IPV, OPV, and DPT-HB-Hib vaccines for children aged 12 to 59 months.
The minister informed that the Ministry of Health has added three new vaccine variants to the childhood basic immunization program, namely HPV vaccines for the prevention of diarrhea in children aged under five.
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Translator: Zubi Mahrofi, Raka Adji
Editor: Suharto
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