COVID-19 – Indonesia needs 58.7 million doses of vaccines for children

Jakarta (Indonesia Window) – Indonesia needs additional 58.7 million doses of vaccines against COVID-19 to vaccinate the 6-11 years old group.

“Currently there are 26.4 million doses of vaccines available for children aged 6-11 years old, so the government needs additional 58.7 million doses,” Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin said at a hearing with the house of representatives here on Monday (Nov. 8).

The minister said that vaccines for children which have obtained Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) are Sinovac, Sinopharm and Pfizer, with different doses of each.

“Sinovac and Sinopharm have the same dosage for children, but Pfizer’s dose has been reduced to 3 micrograms,” he said, adding that vaccinations for children are generally given in a number of countries with vaccination coverage reaching 50 percent.

Budi said the elderly group has a higher risk of being infected with SARS-CoV-2, reaching 12 percent, than the group of children who has the lowest risk, which is below 0.05 percent to 1 percent.

Meanwhile, the risk of illness to hospitalization and death in the elderly is about 20 to 30 times higher than that of children.

Reporting by Indonesia Window