President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has called for equal access to vaccines for all countries. The world would not be free of COIVD-19 as long as there were countries that had not been able to handle the pandemic.
By
Kompas Team
·5 minutes read
President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has called for equal access to vaccines for all countries. The world would not be free of COIVD-19 as long as there were countries that had not been able to handle the pandemic.
BANDUNG, KOMPAS — The Indonesian government has once again called for the importance of equal access to the COVID-19 vaccines. Close cooperation between nations was necessary to overcome the pandemic, because the world would not be free of the disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus if there was even one country that was not safe.
This message was conveyed by President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo in an international conference titled “Overcoming the COVID-19 Pandemic from a Health, Economic, Diplomatic and Social Perspective,” which was held virtually on Tuesday (23/2/2021), hosted by the Padjajaran University Alumni Association in Bandung.
“The world cannot be completely free of COVID-19 if there is one country that is not free of it. Therefore, the most important thing we can do to handle this pandemic is to cooperate, cooperate and cooperate,” said the President.
Demand for the vaccines has been high, as countries race to secure enough for the needs of their people.
The President also stressed the importance of equal access to vaccines for each country. The COVID-19 vaccines served as a ray of hope across the globe. Demand for the vaccines has been high, as countries race to secure enough for the needs of their people. “Never forget that we have to encourage equal access to vaccines,” he said.
Since the beginning, Indonesia has tried several times to secure these vaccines. As a result, Indonesia had become one of the first Southeast Asian countries to conduct vaccinations. However, not all countries had been able to secure vaccines for themselves. Thus, equal access had to be promoted.
The COVID-19 pandemic had to be controlled through the strengthening of international cooperation between countries. “We have to plan accurately, in detail, what we should do together with other nations,” said the President.
Apart from securing vaccines for its people, the Indonesian government is also trying to assist other countries. Indonesia sits as one of the chairs of the multilateral cooperation in the procurement of COVID-19 vaccines, the COVAC Advanced Market Commitment Engagement Group (COVAC-AMC-EG).
According to the President, 2021 is the time to rise from the pandemic. “[It is] the year to transform into a new force to be reckoned with. The world must strengthen its cooperation to solve our shared issues,” he said.
Ongoing vaccinations
Meanwhile, COVID-19 vaccination in Indonesia continues. Indonesia aims to inoculate 181.5 million to achieve herd immunity. The vaccination drive, which began in mid-January 2021, aims to be completed within a year.
However, according to the President, vaccinations will not immediately stop the pandemic. Therefore, residents have been urged to remain disciplined in enforcing health protocol. The government will also continue to test, trace and control transmissions by imposing restrictions on micro-scale community activities.
Health Ministry spokesperson for COVID-19 vaccination Siti Nadia Tarmizi emphasized that the vaccination drive still needed to be accompanied by strict health protocols. “There are guidelines for sticking to health protocols. There is also a schedule to regulate when to vaccinate certain targets and the number of vaccination targets,” she said.
After health workers, the second phase of the national vaccination drive targets some 17 million people providing public or other essential services and 21 million elderly people. According to Reisa Brotoasmoro, spokesperson for the COVID-19 task force, teachers are a priority for the vaccination program. This is to create safe and comfortable conditions for face-to-face teaching activities once the situation allows.
All teachers, lecturers and education staff will undergo COVID-19 vaccination in stages starting Wednesday (24/2). Apart from being an effort to overcome the pandemic, the administration of vaccines is expected to educate people who had doubts about the vaccine.
In total, around 5 million teachers, lecturers and education staff under the Education and Culture Ministry and the Religious Affairs Ministry, will be vaccinated in this second phase. The initial injection will be given to 500 teachers, lecturers and staff on Wednesday, at SMA Negeri 70, Jakarta.
“Hopefully, after that, the COVID-19 vaccine can be administered to all educators and staff,” said Religious Affairs Ministry teachers and madrasah (Islamic school) education director at the Directorate General of Islamic Education, Muhammad Zain.
In total, there are 745,371 madrasah teachers, both civil servants and non-civil servants. A number of madrasas have organized face-to-face learning, especially in boarding madrasas. Even though face-to-face learning is conducted under strict health protocols, teachers are still at a high risk of contracting the virus.
Hendarman, the Education and Culture Ministry’s acting head of cooperation and public relations, said that, based on data from the ministry, there are a total of 3,274,752 teachers and education staff in schools under the ministry. There are also around 300,000 lecturers.
Indonesian Teachers Association (PGRI) executive board chairperson Unifah Rosyidi welcomed the vaccination of teachers, lecturers and education staff, which will begin soon, saying this was the right time to protect the country’s educators. (NTA/TAM/TAN/IKA)