Ministry Calls for Revaccination of Children Age 10 and Under

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta-Health Minister Nila Farid Moeloek said that the recent uncovered fake vaccines by police cannot be tolerated. However, she has assured the public that the fake vaccines were not dangerous.

She said that the vaccines would not cause to death. “No one has died. The vaccines only penetrate into the skin,” he said after the High Level Meeting in Advancing Global Security in Nusa Dua, Bali, Monday, June 27, 2016.

Nevertheless, Nila Moeloek has called on the public to re-vaccinate their children. Because if the reports about fake vaccines were true, children who had been vaccinated would not have immunity as previously expected. “In medics, re-vaccination is not a problem,” she said.

Therefore, Minister Nila is aiming to revaccinate children age 10 and under. Because the fake vaccines had been marketed since 2013, as claimed by the manufacturers. The Ministry will also join hands with the Indonesia Medical Association (IDI)

“We are investigating it, whether the marketing [of fake vaccines] had been carried continuously since 2013 or periodically,” she said.

Earlier, the Police Crime Investigation Unit has arrested a married couple for producing fake vaccines in their home in Bekasi. The two suspects said they had been running the fake vaccine business since 2013 and had marketed some to community health centers (puskesmas) and hospitals.

Four hospitals in Jakarta have allegedly used fake vaccines, while two drug stores had been selling it.

INGE KLARA SAFITRI