Indonesia Considers Expanding COVID-19 Vaccination to Children Under 12 Years Old

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Ki-min Lee] The Indonesian government is considering expanding COVID-19 vaccination eligibility to children under 12 years old.

According to foreign media including CNN Indonesia on the 2nd, Raisa Broto Asmoro, spokesperson for the COVID-19 authorities, stated, "The authorities are continuously reviewing the safety of COVID-19 vaccines for children under 12." This comes after infections and deaths among Indonesian children reached the highest levels worldwide due to the Delta variant in June and July.

According to the Indonesian branch of the international relief and development nonprofit organization Save the Children, from March to mid-August this year, 400,000 children under 18 in Indonesia contracted COVID-19, and more than 1,200 of them lost their lives.

Spokesperson Asmoro added, "Since children under 12 cannot yet receive the vaccine, the best way to protect them is for adults to get vaccinated," urging adults to get vaccinated by saying, "If 8 out of 10 people living in the same household are vaccinated, all 10 can benefit from the vaccine's effects."

After approximately 46,500 schools in Indonesia resumed partial in-person classes in July, COVID-19 cluster infections occurred in about 1,300 schools. Among these, elementary schools accounted for the largest number with 581 schools.

Earlier, the Indonesian government launched a national COVID-19 vaccination program for those aged 18 and older in January this year. Following the start of youth vaccinations in China, the Indonesian government began vaccinating adolescents aged 12 to 17 with the Sinovac vaccine from July 1, and later also administered the Pfizer vaccine to adolescents.

Local health authorities initially set a target of vaccinating 181.55 million people, which is 70% of the 270 million population, to achieve herd immunity. However, with the addition of adolescents aged 12 to 17 to the vaccination target, the goal was increased to 208 million people.

Meanwhile, Pfizer announced that when 2,268 children aged 5 to 11 were given two doses of 10 μg (micrograms) of the vaccine?one-third of the adult and adolescent dose?at three-week intervals, they produced virus antibodies at levels as strong as those aged 12 and older, and the vaccine was safe.