(We) will conduct vaccinations for children below the age of seven in all Central and East Java regions. (The vaccinations) will start on January 15 (2024).Jakarta (ANTARA) - The government is intensifying vaccinations in regions classified as polio outbreak areas, including in Klaten, Central Java.
Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin attributed the polio outbreak in Central Java and Aceh to the disruption of vaccination programs during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We see that this polio (outbreak) has been caused by non-optimal polio vaccinations during the pandemic. We are seeing its impacts now,” Minister Sadikin said at the Presidential Palace in Jakarta on Friday.
In view of the outbreak, the Health Ministry will work to increase polio vaccination coverage in the affected regions.
“We have done it before in North and West Sumatra provinces (following the outbreak in Aceh),” the minister stated.
Earlier, the Health Ministry declared a polio event/outbreak in Klaten after the detection of a polio infection in a six-year-old girl in Manisrenggo Sub-district.
In response to the finding, the Klaten district government has decided to vaccinate thousands of residents.
Acting Head of the Klaten District Health Agency Anggit Budiarto said at least 118,600 people in the region will be targeted during the National Vaccination Sub-Week, which will be conducted simultaneously in Central and East Java.
“(We) will conduct vaccinations for children below the age of seven in all Central and East Java regions. (The vaccinations) will start on January 15 (2024),” he informed in Klaten on Thursday (January 4).
The polio vaccination will be conducted in two phases. The first phase is expected to conclude in one week, and the next one will be conducted after at least a month.
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Translator: Yuni Arisandy Sinaga
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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