Several veiled women entered the Serviam Vaccination Center to receive COVID-19 jabs in Jakarta on May 6 (6/5/2021). The service center made use of a classroom of a Catholic school belonging to the Santa Ursula Foundation.
The vaccination recipients were tended warmly by volunteers made up of cross-faith community members as they passed through a line of help desks, each designated for registering, undergoing a medical examination, receiving an injection and getting observed.
Starting on March 20, the service, which is open from Monday to Friday and from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. local time, receives around 300 people per day.
Among the vaccination recipients was Destya, 32, a teacher from Cilandak, South Jakarta. Observing the Ramadan fast, she came with six colleagues.
"The vaccination area is comfortable and the line is very orderly," Destya said.
Appreciating the organizers for a well-prepared service, she believed vaccinations would be able to curb the spread of COVID-19. She was also aware that her profession as a teacher placed her at higher risk of contracting COVID-19 and was hopeful that being vaccinated would protect her from the virus.
Anyone with an ID card and domicile address of Jakarta was welcome at the Serviam Vaccination Center.
The vaccination service center was held in a collaboration between the foundation, school\'s alumni, the Health Ministry, the Jakarta provincial administration, the Daya Dharma Institute of Jakarta Archdiocese, Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) and Caritas Indonesia.
Serviam Vaccination Center chairperson Angela Basiroen said the activity was a form of the center’s contribution to the nation during the pandemic.
"We want to help speed up the vaccination rollout for communities so that the Indonesian economy can recover quickly," she said.
Father Kristiono Puspo SJ, managing director of the Jakarta Archdiocese\'s Daya Dharma Institute, pointed out the need for people of various religious backgrounds to show the spirit of brotherhood and synergy in the face of the pandemic.
NU support
Makky Zamzami, head of the COVID-19 task force for NU Cares, said its support was also shown in the promotion, public outreach and the provision of health facilities and health workers.
He pointed out that President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo\'s target of getting 70 percent of Indonesia\'s population vaccinated as a requirement to achieve herd immunity would be impossible if vaccination relied only on the government.
His conviction grew from the current progress of the national vaccination drive, in which the government was only able to vaccinate an average of 400,000 people per day, far below the 1 million daily target.
Meanwhile, Muhammadiyah joined the vaccination campaign with its Muhammadiyah COVID-19 Command Center (MCCC), with recipients also coming from other faiths.
“In Medan [North Sumatra], we hold cross-faith vaccinations and invite those from other religions. Alhamdulillah, they come from Confucianism, Buddhism, Hinduism, Christianity and Catholicism,” said MCCC chairman Agus Samsudin.
Vaccination has also been held in the organization\'s college network.
Muhammadiyah launched its vaccination program in March, involving a total of 60 hospitals in the organization’s network and having so far reached 68,208 people. Vaccination has also been held in the organization\'s college network.
Agus said the vaccination program was carried out by turning to religious elders for help in reaching out to the community members in the regions.
Data is collected from community groups, each filing registering community members to be included in the program.
Vaccination efforts are reported to still be concentrated in the western part of Indonesia and MCCC, Agus said, was striving to expand vaccination coverage to eastern Indonesia so that more people can have greater protection against the virus.
Health Ministry data as of Sunday (16/5), shows that out of the vaccination target of 181 million Indonesians, around 12.7 million people or 7.5 percent have received their first dose, and 8.9 million or 4.9 percent have received the second. Support from religious organizations such as NU and Muhammadiyah is expected to accelerate the achievement of the national vaccination target.
Collaboration among community elements helps the “rise from the COVID-19 pandemic” to pick up pace. Not only does the vaccine flow more rapidly and extensively, but the vaccine needle also breaks the barriers of differences to help Indonesia achieve herd immunity.