Gov’t Rolls Out COVID-19 Vaccination Scheme for Pregnant Women, Lactating Mothers, Children

Vice President Ma’ruf Amin delivers remarks on virtual commemoration of the national family day, Tuesday (29/06). Photo by: BPMI of Vice President Secretariat

The Government has officially launched a vaccination drive for pregnant women, lactating mothers, and children aged 12-18 years.

“I welcome vaccination for pregnant women, lactating mothers, and children aged 12-18 years, who are categorized as the target group that is more vulnerable to COVID-19,” Vice President Ma’ruf Amin said during the launching ceremony and commemoration of the national family day held online, Tuesday (29/06).

According to Ma’ruf, vaccination is a game changer in tackling the pandemic and the Government continues to intensify vaccination, while expressing hope that 1 to 2 million recipients will receive vaccine per day in line with the target set by President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo.

On that occasion, the Vice President also praised the Food and Drug Monitoring Agency (BPOM) and the Indonesian Pediatric Society (IDAI) for issuing recommendations allowing Sinovac vaccine rollout for children aged 12-18 years.

“It is the right decision considering the mortality rate of COVID-19 patients aged 10-18 years is relatively high at 30 percent,” he said, adding that the Indonesian Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology (POGI) has also issued a recommendation for pregnant women with specific terms and conditions.

“The POGI has recommended vaccination for pregnant women, especially high-risk pregnant women, namely those aged over 35 years, pregnant women with a BMI [body mass index] above 40 and comorbidities of diabetes and hypertension, as well as for pregnant health workers. However, we are still waiting for a recommendation from the BPOM,” the Vice President said.

Quoting the statement of Minister of Health Budi Gunadi Sadikin, the Vice President said that COVID-19 vaccine could be given to pregnant women under the supervision of a medical doctor before and after the vaccination, adding that in a bid to reduce COVID-19 transmission, the Central Government and regional governments will continue to intensify testing, tracing, and treatment measures.

“We need to work hard to increase testing and tracing capacity so that those infected with COVID-19 can be identified and isolated immediately to prevent further transmission,” he remarked.

Closing his remarks, the Vice President called on the public to always uphold discipline in observing health protocols, as well as to support family members to ensure that everyone complies with the health protocols. (BPMI of Vice President Secretariat/UN) (RI/EP)