Govt Studies Possibilities of Sinovac, Pfizer COVID-19 Vaccines for Children
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25 June 2021 15:32 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Children and adolescents are not shielded from the risk of coronavirus transmission that causes COVID-19. On this basis, Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin is checking into the possibilities of administering COVID-19 vaccines for people under the age of 18.
“We are studying which vaccines have received EUA (Emergency Use Authority) for adolescents. We have observed two, namely Sinovac for people aged 3-17 and Pfizer for people aged 12-17,” said Budi in an online press conference today, June 25.
The Health Ministry is also coordinating with ITAGI (Indonesian Technical Advisory Group on Immunization) to assess the possibilities.
As of June 23, the COVID-19 Handling Task Force recorded 12.6 percent or more than 250,000 cases of the total caseload of 2,033,421 were children.
“Cumulatively, the highest number of COVID cases in children is from the age group of 7-12 years old, followed by the 16-18 years old group, and the 13-15 years old group,” as quoted from the task force’s document on Friday.
Five provinces that contributed the largest number of COVID-19 cases among children were Jakarta, West Java, Central Java, East Java, and Riau. Yogyakarta, East Kalimantan, South Sulawesi, Bali, and Banten also reported high numbers of cases among children.
Read: Health Ministry Ensures Ample Oxygen Supplies for COVID-19 Patients
DEWI NURITA