Independently Purchased Vaccines May Trigger Inequality of Access
The government\'s plan to allow independent purchases of Covid-19 vaccines is feared to trigger inequality and injustice in health and safety.
By
Kompas Team
·5 minutes read
JAKARTA, KOMPAS — The government\'s plan to allow independent purchases of Covid-19 vaccines is feared to trigger inequality and injustice in health and safety. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), groups susceptible to exposure to the disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus must be prioritized for vaccination.
The Covid-19 vaccination drive has fallen behind targets in a number of regions. In Papua Province, for example, the inoculation of health workers has been running for four days as of Friday (22/1/2021). However, only 273 of the 5,406 people registered have received the vaccine.
Moreover, only 50 percent of the 614 health facilities in Papua are ready for the vaccination program. According to Aaron Rumainum, who heads the Disease Prevention and Control Section at the Papua Health Office, many health workers have not been vaccinated.
In Palembang City, South Sumatra, vaccination coverage for health workers is only 11.23 percent. According to Mirza Susanty, the acting head of the Public Health Section at the Palembang Health Office, the registration system is keeping health workers from signing up.
The dean of University of Indonesia’s School of Medicine, Ari Fahrial Syam, said the government should focus in its vaccination program on priority groups, namely health workers and other groups that are at a heightened risk of exposure.
"There are many obstacles to injecting 1.2 million doses of vaccine to health workers. The telecommunication system used to be interrupted. There are those who find it difficult to register, and those who have registered also do not get a call," he said.
WHO recommendations
The Citizens Coalition for Health Access Justice said the government\'s plan to allow independent vaccination channels violated the principles of equality and justice in access to health. "In mitigating a pandemic, vaccination should follow WHO recommendations," said Irma Hidayana from LaporCovid19.
According to WHO recommendations, vaccination must prioritize groups vulnerable to exposure, such as health workers, elderly people and people living in locations with high transmission rates. "The vaccine distribution must be based on medical and epidemiological grounds, not financial capacity," said Irma Hidayana.
Coordinating Economic Minister Airlangga Hartarto said after a closed meeting on Thursday (21/1) that the government was preparing a regulation on independently purchased vaccination. The legislation would regulate the purchase of Covid-19 vaccines by certain industries and given to employees free of charge. The source of the vaccines may differ from the vaccines the government provides free of charge.
Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin, speaking at the Kompas100 CEO Forum on Thursday (21/1), explained that, even though an independent vaccination program could be carried out, the basic principles of vaccination had to be adhered to, namely that vaccination had to be a social program to achieve herd immunity.
Moreover, vaccinations must also be evenly distributed, so that no one particular group gets access to vaccination first. The other principle is that the government provides vaccines to all residents for free. "The vaccination phase begins with health workers, public service workers, and elderly residents. At the end of the April-May period, it will enter the general public," he said.
Infected risk remains
The chairman of the Indonesian Doctors Association, Daeng Mohammad Faqih, noted that residents who had received the Covid-19 vaccine could still be infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus, especially since the vaccine did not cause immunity to form immediately. It took a few more days for antibodies to form.
With the Sinovac vaccine, immunity is established 14 days after the second jab, and the optimal level of 98 percent is reached three months after the second injection.
Daeng Faqih, speaking in an online discussion held by the Press Council and BBC Media Action yesterday, said the Covid-19 vaccines produced optimal effects after residents received the second shot. With the Sinovac vaccine, immunity is established 14 days after the second jab, and the optimal level of 98 percent is reached three months after the second injection.
Health service
Health Ministry Director General of Health Service Abdul Kadir said that, if Covid-19 cases soared, hospitals would not be able to accommodate patients and hence could not provide optimal services. As a result, the death and transmission rates would be high.
The 2,979 hospitals prepared to treat Covid-19 patients provide some 81,000 beds in isolation rooms and intensive care rooms.
"To prevent a collapse of health services, the Health Ministry\'s bureaucratic machine is expected to move quickly, be guided by a clear national strategy and reach the district level and according to real-time monitoring and evaluation," said Yurdhina Meilissa from the Center for Indonesia\'s Strategic Development Initiatives when delivering a policy memo to the Health Minister.
The policy memo highlighted the collapse of health services. Budi Gunadi admitted that there were problems in testing, tracing and isolation. "Testing, tracing and treatment and isolation are like patching a leaky tire. However, we are not disciplined. The test method is wrong,” he said. (AIK/TAN/TRA/AIN/FLO/RAM)