Jokowi to Regional Governments: Get People Vaccinated

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - Indonesia’s President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo urged regional governments to roll out mass vaccinations amid mounting concerns over the ongoing health crisis to immediately attain herd immunity.

"[Vaccinations] must be in mass form. People can be gathered at the sports halls or city hall so that daily we can administer large amounts of vaccine injections to achieve herd immunity," said the president in a televised address on Thursday, February 11.

Jokowi also reminded that Covid-19 vaccination must be provided for the targeted recipients. The reason is, he added, the Covid-19 vaccine is an item that is contested by many countries in the world.

Also read: Indonesia Surpasses a Million Coronavirus amid Vaccine Rollout

He emphasized that the Covid-19 vaccination is not made for individuals. Instead, the government provides vaccines with a cluster system priority to fence off high-risk community groups from potential exposure to Covid-19.

"Starting next week, vaccinations for public services who are often in contact with the patients will begin. Vaccines can also be given to those with high levels of interaction, high mobility and must take precedence, for example, sellers in the market,” Jokowi added.

“Don't forget that vulnerable groups, especially the elderly, should be a priority.”

In January, Indonesia received a total of 426 million doses of the Covid-19 vaccine, making it one of the 42 countries in the world that can implement the Covid-19 jab drive. The total number of vaccines will arrive by the end of the year or early next year.

Also read: Jokowi Receives Second Covid-19 Vaccine Dose

The vaunted vaccination campaign aims to inoculate 181.5 million people, the first of whom will receive the CoronaVac vaccine from China's Sinovac Biotech, which has been authorized for emergency use with an efficacy rate of 65.3 percent.

A spokesperson for the Covid-19 Vaccination from the Ministry of Health, Siti Nadia Tarmizi, said that currently the capacity of the Covid-19 vaccine is still at 60,000 to 80,000 injections per day. An increase must be seen to meet the target of the first phase of vaccination against 40.2 million people.

Until April, the government is targeting to vaccinate 1.3 million health care workers, 17.4 million public officials, and 21.5 million elderly people.

(Writer: Dian Erika Nugraheny, Rakhmat Nur Hakim | Editor: Krisiandi, Bayu Galih, Rakhmat Nur Hakim)

Sources:

https://nasional.kompas.com/read/2021/02/11/13383881/percepat-target-nasional-jokowi-minta-pemda-gelar-vaksinasi-covid-19-massal

https://nasional.kompas.com/read/2021/02/11/12235041/jokowi-pekan-depan-mulai-vaksinasi-covid-19-untuk-petugas-pelayanan-publik

https://nasional.kompas.com/read/2021/02/10/23003191/ini-strategi-pemerintah-untuk-kejar-target-vaksinasi-covid-19