Vaccinations against the virus for this age group has been a sensitive issue in some countries. Europe has just started vaccinations for younger children, but countries there are pursuing different strategies because lack of data has made winning over parents more difficult.

Children and young people are seen as unwitting transmitters of the virus to high-risk people and experts say inoculating them is a critical step towards taming the pandemic.

Indonesia’s campaign kicked off with 100 children using China’s Sinovac vaccine. They are among 26.5 million targeted for immunisation in Indonesia, which was once Asia’s Covid-19 epicentre.

Muhammad Avisena, 11, said the pain of the injection was worth it compared with potential suffering from becoming sick.

“It will hurt more if exposed to Covid-19 because the lungs would be damaged and infected,” he said after his injection.

His mother Siti Nuriyah Safitri said the vaccination would help children get back to school faster after nearly two years of disruption.

According to straitstimes.com