East Kalimantan's Balikpapan administration is to vaccinate 172, 000 children between the ages of 9 months and 15 years for measles and rubella starting Aug. 1.
“We will hold the mass immunization simultaneously at puskesmas [community health centers] and through immunization services at other facilities, ” Balikpapan assistant secretary Dyah Muryani said on Sunday.
Balikpapan will receive assistance from UNICEF in carrying out its measles - rubella (MR) vaccination program. “The MR vaccines will be provided free of charge for all children, ” said Dyah.
She said the vaccine would prevent children from contracting measles and rubella, two highly contagious viral infections. Rubella caused only a mild fever and skin rash, but if pregnant women were infected, the disease can cause miscarriages, stillbirths and birth defects in the fetus.
Source: Jakarta Post