Dissemination of Information on Vaccination Needs Improvement

KOMPAS/RADITYA HELABUMI

A health worker gives a first COVID-19 vaccine dose to a vendor at Blok A Tanah Abang Market in Central Jakarta on Monday (1/3/2021). Many vendors welcomed the vaccination, and there was a long line to register. More than 23,000 vendors and management staff registered for the vaccination drive, which ran until March 2.

Inequality in access to information about the Covid-19 vaccination is still an issue. This condition can hinder efforts to form herd immunity as part of efforts to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic.

JAKARTA, KOMPAS — Some people are still confused about the implementation of the Covid-19 vaccination drive. The confusion, among other things, is related to the level of priority in the administration and collection of the vaccination data.

This was exposed in the result on the assessment of the residents\' feedback by Lapor Covid-19 and Wahana Visi Indonesia regarding the implementation of the Covid-19 vaccination drive in a public discussion, Friday (4/6/2021), in Jakarta. Data collection was carried out on April 6-26, 2021, through chatbots on the WhatsApp and Telegram applications with 185 respondents.

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In the assessment, it was found that only 8 percent of respondents knew there are three priority groups for vaccination, namely health workers, elderly citizens and public officials. In addition, 40.3 percent of respondents in rural areas and 28.3 percent of respondents in urban areas expressed the need to increase information dissemination and convey accurate information about vaccination.

“There is a tendency among the complainants to rate the vaccination as poor and good. On a less favorable trend, the respondents said that the vaccination is unsatisfactory due to the lack of information, obstacles for vulnerable groups to get vaccines, and interference with the vaccination," said a volunteer for Lapor Covid-19, Amanda Tan.

There were also complaints that the parents of respondents belonging to the elderly groups have not been vaccinated, while younger people have received the vaccine first.

A number of reports said, among others, that there has been no information of who the vaccine recipients are and the procedure for applying for the vaccination. There were also complaints that the parents of respondents belonging to the elderly groups have not been vaccinated, while younger people have received the vaccine first.

KOMPAS/WAWAN H PRABOWO

A teacher undergoes a health check before getting a Covid-19 vaccine shot during a vaccinations for high school teachers at SMAN 70 Jakarta on Wednesday. The event was attended by 600 teachers and education staff. The vaccination program has come to the second batch, targeting elderly people and those employed in the public sector, such as market vendors, educators (teachers, lecturers), religious leaders, lawmakers, government officials and state institutions.

Complainants from urban and rural areas also criticized about vaccination priorities and information on vaccination implementation. Some other complainants were reluctant and afraid to be vaccinated.

"If examined, the fear and reluctance of the residents to be vaccinated is due to imperfect information obtained by the residents. So, the government needs to strengthen information and its dissemination to the public," she said.

Wahana Visi Indonesia\'s public policy analyst, Lia Anggiasih, added that the government needs to redefine priority groups and their reasons to prevent different interpretations that create a sense of injustice. "The government must strictly monitor the vaccination implementation to comply with regulations," she said.

Ines Atmosukarto, a researcher of vaccines and molecular biology at the John Curtin School of Medical Research, Australia National University, said that the results of the assessment showed a lack of information obtained by residents in urban and rural areas. The government should strictly limit the vaccination only to priority groups.

Vaccination for the elderly

The Health Ministry as of June 4, 2021 recorded that around 11 million people in Indonesia have received two doses of the Covid-19 vaccine. It consisted of 1.3 million health workers, 7.4 million public officers, and 2.2 million elderly citizens. The percentage of the elderly group who had been vaccinated with two doses was only 10.5 percent of the target of 21.5 million people.

KOMPAS/LARASWATI ARIADNE ANWAR

Elderly people wait in line outside the Health Ministry training center on Jl. Hang Jebat in Kebayoran Baru, South Jakarta, on Tuesday. They received a message broadcast on WhatsApp notifying recipients of free vaccinations for elderly people in the area. However, it turned out that the free vaccine was being offered only to elderly people with South Jakarta-registered ID cards and that the number was limited to 1,000 people per day.

The spokesperson for the Health Ministry for Covid-19 Vaccination, Siti Nadia Tarmizi, said that the government had compiled vaccination guidelines in the Health Minister Decree Number 4638 of 2021. Even though vaccination is centralized, the principle of decentralization applies so that implementation in the regions becomes the responsibility of regional heads.

“At the beginning of the vaccination drive, our stock was very limited so it had to be given to health workers and the elderly. After July, it is expected that there will be more vaccines so that they can be given to all Indonesians," she said.

Surakarta City Government, Java Central, innovates the “2+1” program, in which someone who enables two elderly citizens to get the vaccination is also vaccinated.

In a number of regions, the local governments are trying to boost vaccination for the elderly, including in the cities of Surakarta and Pontianak. Surakarta City Government, Java Central, innovates the “2+1” program, in which someone who enables two elderly citizens to get the vaccination is also vaccinated.

In West Kalimantan, the elderly and disabled can be vaccinated at all health facilities or vaccination services in cities and regencies. The services which are not based on the residents’ domicile are carried out to speed up vaccination coverage for the elderly.

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Meanwhile, in Jepara regency, Central Java, all tourist attractions will be closed on June 3-14, 2021, as the number of Covid-19 cases has increased. Currently, the bed occupancy rate for Covid-19 patients is 85 percent. In Banyumas, 90 people underwent health checks after 23 police officers were tested positive for Covid-19 at the Cilongok Sector Police office, Banyumas. Services at the office have temporarily been closed.

KOMPAS/ADRIAN FAJRIANSYAH

This is a situation during Covid-19 vaccination at Istora Senayan, Jakarta, on Friday (26/2/2021). Athletes participated in the campaign on the importance of vaccination. The athletes have not experienced any negative effects after getting a vaccine shot. They are happy to receive the vaccine because it increases immunity and confidence for training and competition. They hope the vaccination marks a start for the recovery of sports in Indonesia, mainly for national competition.

According to the deputy chief of the Banyumas City Police, Adj. Sr. Comr. Kristanto Yoga Darmawan, close contact tracing was carried out on their families who were positive for Covid-19. Of the antigen tests on 90 people, 11 of them were positive for Covid-19.

(This article was translated by Hyginus Hardoyo).