Pekalongan — Health officials in Pekalongan, Central Java, are intensifying efforts to close immunization gaps through a targeted catch-up vaccination campaign aimed at strengthening community immunity.
The Pekalongan City Health Office reported that routine immunization coverage currently stands at 76.9 percent, leaving a significant portion of children without full protection against vaccine-preventable diseases.
To address this gap, the city launched the Immunization Catch-Up Program, which provides vaccines to children who have missed scheduled doses. According to Puji Winarti, head of the Pekalongan City Health Office, the initiative is designed to “chase down immunization delays” and reach ideal coverage levels necessary for herd immunity.
“Immunization catch-up is given to children who have not received complete immunization as scheduled, so we are chasing that gap,” Winarti explained in a statement confirmed via telephone on April 14, 2026.
The program covers all antigen types, including BCG, DPT, HB-Hib (which protects against diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, hepatitis B, and meningitis), polio, measles, rubella, rotavirus, and pneumococcal vaccines.
Winarti emphasized that low and uneven immunization coverage increases the risk of outbreaks of preventable diseases. “If coverage is not high and even, herd immunity will not form, so the potential for unwanted events could occur,” she said.
For 2025, the city identified 3,535 children as targets for catch-up immunization. Health officials aim to raise overall immunization coverage to 97 percent through the intensified campaign.
Local health teams have been actively administering vaccines across Pekalongan, with recent activities documented on April 14, 2026, showing health workers conducting catch-up immunizations for children in the city.
