JAKARTA: Indonesia Monday began re-inoculating children who received fake vaccines in a major drug counterfeiting scandal that has sparked protests from concerned parents.
President Joko Widodo attended a health clinic in Jakarta at which 36 children were given fresh booster vaccines, vowing the process would continue until all youngsters affected had received new shots.
The health ministry said the first stage of re-inoculation would take place at four hospitals and clinics on the main island of Java where children had been identified as having received fake vaccines.
Police last month smashed a criminal syndicate accused of selling fake vaccines for more than a decade to health clinics across Indonesia, a vast archipelago of 255 million people.
Twenty-three people, including midwives and doctors, have been arrested for alleged involvement in the scheme and vaccines have been confiscated from dozens of health centres across the country.
