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Government begins vaccinating children as pediatric cases rise
Jakarta is leading the way for COVID-19 vaccinations for children aged 12 to 17, as part of redoubled efforts to stem the tide of infection and reach herd immunity.
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A health worker gives a COVID-19 vaccine to a student at state senior high school SMAN 20 in Jakarta on July 1. The Health Ministry is now allowing children aged 12 to 17 to participate in the public vaccination drive. (Antara/Indrianto Eko Suwarso)
T
he government has started administering COVID-19 vaccines to children aged 12 to 17 in an attempt to bring down infections among young people, while emergency restrictions dash hopes of resuming in-person learning in the near future.
In response to a slew of record-breaking new cases and deaths over the past week, the country has been ramping up its pandemic response as it battles one of Asia’s worst COVID-19 epidemics.
The government’s augmented response has included the decision to fast-track vaccinations for school-age children, with Jakarta leading the charge at a high school on Thursday.
At state senior high school SMAN 20 in Central Jakarta, the site of the city’s first school-age vaccination drive, Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan said his administration aimed to inoculate 1.3 million kids listed in the city’s records.
The number is a fraction of the 23-25 million children that the government is targeting for vaccination nationwide, according to Health Ministry vaccine affairs spokeswoman Siti Nadia Tarmizi.
“Children can now receive COVID-19 vaccines in community health centers and other health facilities anywhere in the country,” Nadia told The Jakarta Post.
She said the number of children vaccinated would be kept in proportion to the number of available vaccines.
