VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

The Indonesian Ministry of Health has estimated that it will need 25-30 million additional Sinovac vaccines for inoculating children aged 6-11 years.

"We should make efforts to fulfill this vaccine need by securing around 25-30 million additional doses of Sinovac vaccine since the current order is not enough to meet the needs of vaccines for children," spokesperson for COVID-19 vaccinations for the Ministry of Health, Siti Nadia Tarmizi, said here on Wednesday.

She affirmed that the currently available vaccines are being prioritized for adults and the elderly because they are more at risk of serious illness.

"Our focus is vaccinations of adults and older adults since they have a higher risk of serious illness and the risk of death is three to five times higher than in children," she explained.

The spokesperson informed that COVID-19 vaccinations for children aged 6-11 will not commence in the near future as the ministry is still consulting the Indonesian Pediatrician Association (IDAI) and the Indonesia Technical Advisory Group on Immunization (ITAGI), and other related parties, to obtain recommendations.

However, she predicted that the program would be rolled out in 2022 if all preparations are completed.

Earlier, spokesperson and secretary of Bio Farma, Bambang Heriyanto, had assured that Bio Farma will strive to ensure the availability of Sinovac vaccines, which have been approved for use for children aged 6-11 years.

“Bio Farma will ensure the availability of Sinovac vaccines for children just like the previous vaccine distribution. We will distribute the vaccines after the program has been approved and after the Health Ministry has ordered us to allocate (the vaccines),” he said.

Bio Farma will bring in 40 million additional doses of the Sinovac vaccine in the form of finished products, Heriyanto added.

From January to October 2021, Bio Farma has distributed 186.3 million Sinovac vaccine doses across Indonesia. Meanwhile, the total COVID-19 vaccine doses from various brands that the firm has distributed between January and late October is 226.6 million.  (Antaranews)