The Food and Drug Monitoring Agency (BPOM) approved last week the Coronavac vaccine produced by Chinese Sinovac for emergency use on children as young as 6, making it the first registered vaccine that could be used for this age group in Indonesia.

Laura Noviana, a 39-year-old mother from Bekasi in West Java, said she had been waiting for months for her 8-year-old son Geoffrey to get vaccinated.

“I think the sooner [children can get vaccinated] the better, especially because my son has already returned to school for in-person classes,” Laura told The Jakarta Post.

Like Laura, Dendra Aditya Ramadhanto, 34, from South Tangerang on the outskirts of Jakarta, said that he would get his 5-year-old son Daksha vaccinated as soon as he turned 6 next February.

"Regardless of what people say about [Sinovac's] low [efficacy compared to other vaccines], a small increase in protection is better than nothing," Dendra said.

Read also: BPOM approves Sinovac vaccine for minors aged 6 to 11

The government has allowed schools to reopen since late August, without requiring children, regardless of their age, to get vaccinated to attend classes -- only teachers and other staff members are required to do so.

The Indonesian Child Protection Commission (KPAI) however, said COVID-19 vaccinations for younger children could not wait, calling parents to have their children vaccinated as soon as the vaccination drive starts.

“The KPAI is sure that the COVID-19 vaccines currently being used [either in Indonesia or abroad] are all safe. Vaccines are children’s right to health, [parents need to] give them their rights,” KPAI commissioner Retno Listyiarti said.

She said the government needed to accelerate vaccine distribution for the new age group, as children had gradually begun to attend in-person learning.

Read also: Mixed feelings as schools reopen under pandemic cloud

But not all parents are convinced that the vaccine is completely safe and effective because they have no access to clear information about possible side effects and the pros and cons of having the vaccine for pediatric use.

“I am certainly worried [about any side effects] on my son's growth. I hope the government gives parents more information about this," said Melly Rosyanti, a mother of an 8-year-old son from South Tangerang, Banten. "But I’m just going to trust the government, along with what the doctors are saying, because the authorities have already approved it."

Still in the works

Health Ministry spokeswoman Siti Nadia Tarmizi said the government was still devising a policy that would detail what would make children aged 6 to 11 eligible for the vaccine, such as whether or not they had certain medical conditions.

Parents will also have to wait for the government to procure up to 28 million more doses of the Sinovac vaccine that will be used for the new age group.

“[The government] is waiting for some 40 million doses by the end of the year that will be used for the second jab of vaccinations for adults," Siti said on Wednesday, adding that the government would finish the adult vaccinations first before moving on to younger children.

“Hopefully, [the vaccine drive for younger children] will start January next year, at the latest,” she said.

Read also: To vaccinate children or not? Doubts linger amid COVID-19 surge ahead of school reopening

The ongoing child vaccination program, which was started in July, targets a total of 26.7 million children aged 12 to 17 so far, leaving younger children without any access to the vaccine.

By Saturday, 13.1 million children aged 12 to 17 had received their first dose, with 7.8 million of whom having been fully vaccinated, Health Ministry data show.

The BPOM last week also announced plans to authorize two other vaccines for minors, namely those from Sinopharm and United States-based Pfizer, pending trial results.

Data updated daily by the COVID-19 task force, meanwhile, show that coronavirus infections and deaths among children aged 6 to 17 make up the second lowest percentage of all age groups -- at 10.2 percent for those aged 6 to 11 and 0.5 percent for those 12 to 17-- after those aged 5 and below. The data does not specify how many children aged 6 to 11 and 12 to 17 were infected with the virus.

Vaccine as return to school requirement?

Satriwan Salim from the Education and Teachers Association (P2G) said the BPOM’s vaccine authorization for children aged 6 to 11 should have come sooner because children in this age group had in fact been attending in-classroom lessons for months without any access to vaccines.

"Roughly 70 percent of schools in the country, including elementary schools, have been hosting in-class learning now," he said.

Although returning to school has been a major driving factor for parents wanting their children to get vaccinated, Satriwan said the government should not make vaccinations a mandatory requirement for attending in-class lessons.

“Ideally, everyone needs to get vaccinated first, but considering distribution problems and vaccine shortages, I don’t think Indonesia is ready for that,” Satriwan said