Pekalongan, Warganet – The Pekalongan City Government, through its Health Office (Dinkes), is intensifying its catch-up immunization program by actively tracking and reaching out to toddlers who have missed or delayed their routine basic vaccinations. Through a door-to-door approach, the government aims to ensure that no child is left unprotected against vaccine-preventable diseases.
Head of the Pekalongan City Health Office, Puji Winarti, said the catch-up immunization program remains part of the 2026 National Children’s Day campaign. The program will run until the end of July and may be extended through August if there are still children who have not received their required vaccinations.
“Catch-up immunization is a sweeping effort to identify toddlers who have missed or delayed their vaccinations so they can complete their basic immunization schedule. If we have not finished by the end of July, we will continue through August until every child has been vaccinated,” she said.
According to Puji, the program aims to build immunity among young children while preventing diseases that can be avoided through vaccination, such as pertussis (whooping cough). Field monitoring has shown that some children have yet to receive their scheduled immunizations.
The Health Office is targeting 100 percent basic immunization coverage. If some children remain unvaccinated, health workers will continue searching for them, as delays may occur because a child was ill or away from home when vaccinations were scheduled.
“Our target is for every eligible child to be immunized. Even if only three percent remain, we will continue looking for them. Some children may have been sick or traveling when their vaccination was due, so we will reach out to them again,” Puji explained.
To ensure all eligible children are reached, the Health Office is maximizing data collection through community health centers (Puskesmas), supported by community health volunteers at the neighborhood level. Based on this data, health workers conduct house-to-house visits to identify toddlers who have not completed their basic immunization schedule.
Through this proactive approach, the Pekalongan City Government hopes to achieve full immunization coverage for all toddlers and provide stronger protection against preventable diseases.
