Jakarta (ANTARA) – Indonesia’s Health Ministry on Friday assured the public that the measles-rubella (MR) vaccine used in the national immunization program is safe and effective, urging people not to worry about side effects as measles cases continue to be monitored across the country.The ministry said the vaccine has received distribution approval from the Food and Drug Monitoring Agency (BPOM) and has undergone rigorous evaluation by the World Health Organization (WHO).Lucia Rizka Andalusia, director general for pharmaceuticals and medical devices at the ministry, called on the public to remain confident in the vaccines used in the national vaccination program, particularly for measles prevention.“Do not worry about the vaccines used in the national vaccination program, as they have undergone thorough evaluation by the Ministry of Health in collaboration with the National Immunization Committee,” she said during an online press conference on measles case updates in Jakarta on Friday.She also reminded the public not to be concerned about reactions that may appear after immunization, noting that such responses are generally normal and temporary.Common reactions include mild pain at the injection site, low-grade fever and skin rashes.“Side effects from the MR vaccine are a normal sign that a child’s body is building immunity,” Andalusia said.Regarding the vaccine’s effectiveness, she said the MR vaccine has proven highly effective in significantly boosting children’s antibody levels, making immunization a key method for protecting against measles and rubella.For measles, she said the vaccine increases protective antibody titers in children from 10.41 percent before immunization to 80.21 percent after vaccination.For rubella, the vaccine raises protective antibody titers in children from 15.10 percent to 98.96 percent.“These data show that the MR vaccine selected for this immunization program effectively provides protection against measles and rubella in children,” Andalusia said.