Indonesia examines use of Sinovac, Pfizer vaccines for children, youths
Indonesia said its currently examining the use of both Sinovac and Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines for people under 18 years of age.
Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin said at a virtual news conference on Friday that the examination of vaccines came after detecting many cases of the highly contagious Delta variant of the coronavirus among children and youths.
“We are currently reviewing which vaccines already have a EUA (Emergency Use Authorisation) for young people.
“What we have observed is that there are two on our list; Sinovac for those aged three to 17 years old and Pfizer for those aged between 12 years and 17 years old.’’
China has approved the emergency use of the Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine for people as young as three-year-olds, meanwhile, the United States has approved the Pfizer vaccine for those as young as 12.
Sadikin said the Indonesian health ministry had been conducting a study on vaccinating children, which would be released soon.
He said at the same time, the ministry had continued to observe the developments and data related to the effectiveness and side effects of vaccines administered to children in a number of countries.
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“We can issue a comprehensive decision based on the data we have, policy data in other countries, and health scientific data on the EUA that have been given to vaccine companies,’’ said Sadikin.
Under its plan, the Southeast Asian country is currently working to inoculate the targeted 181.5 million people aged over 18 years, about 70 percent of its total population by March 2022.
