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Govt seeks to boost childhood immunization amid outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases
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A health worker prepares to administer a polio vaccine to a baby during a national child immunization program event at a community health post (Posyandu) in Cibinong, Bogor, West Java, on April 5, 2023. (Antara/Muhammad Adimaja)
T
he government continues to ramp up its efforts to increase the childhood immunization rates, particularly in remote regions, amid outbreaks of various vaccine-preventable diseases across the archipelago.
As per April, only 4.02 percent of the country's 4.3 million children under a year old had received complete basic immunization, far below the Health Ministry target of 33 percent in the first quarter of 2023 and 100 percent by the end of the year.
The coverage was especially low in five provinces, namely Maluku, North Sumatra, Papua, Yogyakarta and Aceh, with those regions only able to vaccinate fewer than 1 percent of their under 1-year-old infants.
"This is very concerning, because low vaccination rates among children and babies means we are unable to reach herd immunity [from vaccine-preventable diseases], increasing risk of outbreaks," ministry spokesperson Mohammad Syahril said.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), at least 95 percent of all children in a certain population must be fully inoculated to reach herd immunity and prevent outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases.
Pandemic backslide
The COVID-19 pandemic led to a significant decrease in childhood immunization across the globe, including Indonesia, as it disrupted essential healthcare services.
