Safety fears hamper polio vaccination
Safety fears hamper polio vaccination
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta, Tangerang/Bogor
Concern was etched on the faces of health workers at a
vaccination post in Pondok Ranji, Ciputat, Tangerang when only 28
children showed up by 11 a.m., four hours after it opened.
And in a desperate move to persuade parents to bring their
children under five to the post, the workers resorted to a "white
lie" -- announcing through a loud speaker that celebrities from
the capital Jakarta had come to the village.
The trick didn't work well, with only a handful of parents
showing up.
But even the few parents who came to the post did not want
their children vaccinated.
"I am afraid to let my son receive the vaccine now. My son
developed a high temperature for two days after receiving the
vaccine last month, forcing me to rush him to the doctor for
treatment," said Rita, a resident of Pondok Ranji, told The
Jakarta Post.
Siti Khodijah, a resident of Karet in South Jakarta, came to a
nearby post, asking health volunteers not to give the polio
vaccine to her 5-year-old grandchild, Dela Aprilita, arguing that
she was ill with influenza.
"I'm worried that my granddaughter will get weak or sick like
the children I saw on TV," said Khodijah, referring to news
reports suggesting that some children had fallen seriously ill
and died following the first polio vaccination last May 31.
Although the Ministry of Health has repeatedly said that the
sicknesses and deaths had nothing to do with the vaccinations,
the public at large have increasingly questioned the safety of
polio vaccine used in the campaign.
Close to one million children under five were due to receive
the vaccination in a program officially launched by First Lady
Kristiani Herawati Yudhoyono on Tuesday. However, judging by
parents' lack of enthusiasm, the number of children receiving the
vaccine on Tuesday would be much lower than expected.
Some parents came to the posts only to inform health workers
that they did not want their children vaccinated.
"There are 23 children under five who have not been vaccinated
for polio," Masri Yuningsih, coordinator of a post in Kuningan,
South Jakarta, told The Post after conducting a door-to-door
check looking for children under five.
"I don't want my child to die as happened to children I saw on
TV news," Yuningsih quoted parents as saying Tuesday.
More than 200 parents in Megamendung and Gunung Putri
districts in Bogor declined to bring out their children.
Jakarta Health Agency head Abdul Chalik Masulili acknowledged
Tuesday that the number of children receiving the vaccine in the
second round would likely be lower than the 923,000 in the first
round.
"We call on parents to come to community health centers and
let their children be vaccinated or allow health workers to give
the vaccine in their homes when they do door-to-door checks,"
Masulili said.
Masulili said that his agency was going to spend a week
carrying out the door-to-door checks.