The immunization week was held in all districts and cities in the provinces of East Java, Central Java, and Yogyakarta, following the discovery of several polio cases.
"East Java coverage for the polio immunization is 2,108,537, or 47.5 percent," said Siti Nadia Tarmizi, the ministry's Head of Communications and Public Service Bureau, in a statement released on Tuesday.
She said that the total immunization coverage in the three regions reached 42.6 percent, exceeding the target of 27.1 percent.
Meanwhile, the immunization coverage in Central Java reached 1,460,624 children, or 37.4 percent of the target of 3.9 million children.
In Sleman, 44,561 children, or 29.7 percent of the target of 149,000 children, were immunized.
Earlier, the ministry's Director General of Disease Prevention and Control, Maxi Rein Rondonuwu, said that the immunization program is targeting all children aged 0–7 years, regardless of their previous immunization status. This means that children who have completed the vaccination still need to take part in the polio immunization program.
He said that the immunization will be implemented in two rounds, with the first round starting on January 15 and the second round on February 19.
"Each round will be carried out within one week, separated by at least one month," he added.
The ministry detected four cases of type 2 polio in Indonesia in 2022 and 2023, with one case identified in Pidie, Aceh, on October 9, 2022.
Polio infections were also detected in a 3-year-old boy in North Aceh on January 3, 2023; a 4-year-old boy in Bireuen, Aceh, on January 13, 2023; and a 4-year-old boy in Purwakarta, West Java, on February 16, 2023.
Three more cases were reported in November–December 2023: a 6-year-old in Klaten, Central Java; a 1-year-old in Pamekasan, East Java; and a 3-year-old in Sampang, East Java.
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Translator: Sean Muhamad, Resinta Sulistiyandari
Editor: Anton Santoso
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