TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - COVID-19 vaccination for children aged 6-11 years will commence on Tuesday, December 14, targeting 26.5 million children based on the 2020 population census.

The Health Ministry’s Acting Director-General of Disease Prevention and Control, Maxi Rein Rondonuwu, said his side had made the preparation for the vaccine rollout.

“We expect that [the vaccine rollout] will be kicked off on Tuesday (14/12) in several regions and continue gradually until next year for children aged 6 to 11 years, which based on the data, there will be 26.8 million children in total,” Maxi said in a written statement on Monday, December 13.

The vaccination will be carried out in stages. In the first stage, it will be carried out in provinces and districts/cities which their vaccination coverage of the first dose hit 70 percent and that of the elderly group at above 60 percent.

Until now, 8.8 million children from 106 districts/cities in 11 provinces have met the criteria. The regions include Banten, Yogyakarta, Jakarta, West Java, Central Java, East Java, East Kalimantan, Riau Islands, West Nusa Tenggara, North Sulawesi, and Bali.

The vaccine that will be used is China’s Sinovac. The COVID-19 vaccination will be available at the community health center or Puskesmas, hospitals, or other health care facilities including vaccination centers. “We also expect there will be vaccination service posts at schools or other educational units or children's social welfare institutions such as orphanages,” said Maxi.

Read: Covid-19 Vaccinations for Children to Start in Java, Bali from December 24

DEWI NURITA