The Jakarta Health Office is formulating the COVID-19 vaccination dissemination and education program for children under the age of 12 after an emergency permit was issued by the Indonesian Food and Drug Supervisory Agency (BPOM).

“We prepare education and officials at puskesmas (public health centers) that are ready to provide service,” Head of the Jakarta Health Office Widyastuti noted at the Jakarta City Hall on Tuesday.

Widyastuti also underlined the importance of the media’s role in disseminating this information.

The BPOM has issued emergency use authorization for the Comirnaty vaccine produced by Pfizer-BioNTech for children in the age bracket of six months to 11 years.

Head of BPOM Penny K. Lukito stated that the Comirnaty children’s vaccine has a different formulation and strength than the Comirnaty vaccine for teenagers and adults.

Thus, the Comirnaty children’s vaccine cannot be used for individuals over the age of 12, she remarked.

The Comirnaty children’s vaccine dosage for children at the age of six months to four years for primary vaccination is 3 mcg/0.2 mL.

This is given in three doses, with the first two doses administered within a time span of three weeks, while the third dose is given at least eight weeks after the second dose.

Meanwhile, dosage for the Comirnaty children’s vaccine for children at the age of five to 11 years for primary vaccination is 10 mcg/0.2 mL.

The vaccine is administered in two doses, with a time span of three weeks between the first and second dose.

According to the Ministry of Health’s vaccination achievement data accessed this Tuesday, the first dose coverage reached 12.6 million while that for the second dose stood at 10.9 million.

Meanwhile, coverage for the third dose is pegged at 5.3 million and fourth dose reached 154 thousand.

Source: Antara News