"We are targeting a 95 percent coverage for each round that will be evenly distributed at each level, starting from villages, sub-districts, to districts," the ministry's Director General of Disease Prevention and Control, Maxi Rein Rondonuwu, noted in a press release issued by his office on Monday.
According to Rondonuwu, the provision of novel Oral Polio Vaccine Type 2 (nOPV2) immunization targets 8.4 million children up to seven years of age. In detail, the vaccine will be distributed to 4.4 million children in East Java Province, 3.9 million children in Central Java Province, and 149 thousand children in Sleman District.
Rondonuwu remarked that the program would be implemented for a week starting on Monday followed by covering the participants for the next five days.
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He noted that the immunization program targets children up to seven years of age regardless of their earlier immunization status. Children with complete immunization status still need to partake in the polio vaccination program.
The launch of the program was marked by administering the nOPV2 immunization drops to 144 children symbolically by Rondonuwu along with Sidoarjo District Head Ahmad Muhdlor Ali at MINU Kapasan Sidoarjo, East Java.
He stated that while the first round of immunization was started on January 15, the second round will take place on February 19, 2024.
"Each round is carried out in one week, with a minimum distance between rounds of one month," he remarked.
Priority areas for the additional immunization are all districts and cities in the provinces of Central Java and East Java with extraordinary polio cases.
Additional immunization is also conducted in Sleman District as an area directly bordering with Klaten District where polio cases were detected some time ago.
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Translator: Andi Firdaus, Resinta Sulistiyandari
Editor: Jafar M Sidik
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