The COVID-19 Handling Task Force has asked parents to report any adverse reactions experienced by children after they are vaccinated against COVID-19 to community health centers or vaccination centers.

“Parents can report AEFI (adverse events following immunization) findings experienced by children to the community health center or the vaccination center as inputs for evaluation of vaccinations implementation and further handling,” spokesperson for the COVID-19 Handling Task Force, Prof. Wiku Adisasmito, said at an online press conference, accessed from here on Tuesday.

He also urged parents not to panic if they find any indications of AEFI in children, such as pain in the arm at the injection site, headaches or muscle aches, joint pain, chills, nausea or vomiting, fatigue, a fever of above 37.8 degrees Celsius, as well as flu-like symptoms for one to two days.

“Parents can make early treatment efforts by ensuring their children have enough rest and take fever medications if needed and drink enough water,” he advised.

He added that if there is pain at the injection site, children should keep moving and using their arms to do activities.

“If needed, compress the painful area using a clean cloth and cold water,” he said.

The program to vaccinate children aged 6–11 against COVID-19 is targeting 26.5 Indonesian children, he informed.

“The implementation will start from Jakarta, Banten, and Depok using the Sinovac vaccine,” he added.

To boost immunity against COVID-19, the Indonesian government launched a nationwide vaccination program on January 13, 2021. President Joko Widodo was the first vaccine recipient under the program.

The National Agency for Drug and Food Control (BPOM) had earlier permitted the emergency use of the Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine for children aged 6 to 11 years.

Source: Antara News