The Health Office of Central Sulawesi has distributed 12,400 doses of pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PVC) from the Health Ministry to districts and cities in the province.
The Coordinator for Survey and Immunization of the Central Sulawesi Health Office, Ahsan, here on Sunday, said that the vaccine quota from the ministry would be used to carry out PCV immunization in healthcare facilities and integrated health service posts (posyandus) in districts and cities.
Ahsan noted that PCV immunization is not carried out simultaneously in regions. Some regions are still disseminating information about the immunization program.
“However, there are some that have started the implementation. According to existing records, the number of babies that have received PCV immunization in Central Sulawesi is 29,” he said.
He explained that PCV immunization is carried out to prevent pneumonia due to pneumococcal bacterial infection in babies.
According to him, PCV immunization is done by administering three doses of the vaccine. The first dose of the PCV vaccine is given when the baby is two months old, the second dose is given when the baby is three months old, and the third dose is given when the baby is 12 months old.
The health office data showed that in 2021, there were 4,668 cases of pneumonia in Central Sulawesi, with average case findings of 39.7 percent per week. The number of babies who died due to pneumonia infection stood at seven.
He affirmed that the cases of pneumonia found among children under five in 2021 were lower than in 2020. The number of children under five in the province who had pneumonia in 2020 stood at 5,724e, and 12 of them died.
To reduce the number of pneumonia cases, the government is intensifying the implementation of immunization in 2022.
The government has launched the PCV immunization program to reduce mortality among babies and children under five and lower stunting cases.
Source: Antara News