‘Gotong Royong’ Vaccination for Individuals being Prepared

Kompas/Priyombodo

Employees from banking institutions receive the Sinopharm vaccine at the mutual cooperation vaccination center, Senayan indoor tennis court, Gelora Bung Karno Main Stadium complex, Senayan, Central Jakarta, Saturday (19/6/2021).

JAKARTA, KOMPAS — The Health Ministry is preparing technical instructions for the Gotong Royong (mutual cooperation) vaccination scheme targeting individuals. Healthcare facilities that will provide this paid vaccination for individuals are expected to wait until technical instructions are issued.

Health Ministry COVID-19 vaccination spokesperson Siti Nadia Tarmizi said the Gotong Royong vaccination was a response to input from the public to accelerate the formation of herd immunity. She said the scheme would speed up controlling the rate of transmission of COVID-19.

She said that Gotong Royong vaccination was an option to expand, accelerate and bring vaccination services closer to the people. "This is not mandatory and does not eliminate the public\'s right to obtain free vaccines through the government\'s vaccination program," she said on Tuesday.

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In addition, in terms of implementation, Nadia emphasized that the Gotong Royong vaccination scheme would not interfere with the government\'s program. This is because the Gotong Royong vaccinations are carried out with different types of vaccines, health facilities and health workers than the government’s free vaccination program.

The Gotong Royong vaccination uses the Sinopharm vaccine, while the vaccination program from the government uses the Sinovac, AstraZeneca, Pfizer, Novavac and Sinopharm types, as well as Moderna obtained from cooperation grants, both bilateral and multilateral.

Recipients are limited

The government will limit the recipients of the paid vaccination to people who work in companies registered with the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s (Kadin) Gotong Royong vaccination program. This policy is feared to be more burdensome for workers and does not address the core problem of limited access to the Gotong Royong vaccinations.

KOMPAS/RADITYA HELABUMI

The vaccinator injects the first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine to one of the vaccination participants at the mutual cooperation vaccination center of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) at Senayan Park Mall, Jakarta, Wednesday (19/5/2021).

Previously, the government argued that the paid vaccination option was to expand access for companies that had difficulty accessing the Gotong Royong vaccinations from Kadin. Companies that find it difficult to access are generally small-scale companies and the labor-intensive sector, which views the Sinopharm vaccine as too expensive.

State-Owned Enterprises Minister Erick Thohir said that at a coordination meeting at the Presidential Palace on Monday afternoon, it was agreed that the recipients of the paid individual vaccinations would only be people covered by the business entity or institution where they worked provided it had registered for the Gotong Royong vaccination program managed by Kadin.

“The data that will be used is the data of business entities or institutions that have been registered for VGR [Gotong Royong vaccines] through Kadin, and this is validated by the Health Ministry. This will be further detailed in [forthcoming public information about] individual vaccinations,” said Erick.

The Gotong Royong vaccine also allows a benefactor to help a particular group. "If there is a group, it will be even better if you want [to provide] vaccination for orphans. It is very supportive,” said Erick.

Especially as new variants are emerging that may require booster vaccinations.

Gotong Royong vaccines can also help the government in terms of vaccine financing. Especially as new variants are emerging that may require booster vaccinations.

Vaccine pricing will also involve the Financial and Development Supervisory Agency, the Attorney General\'s Office and the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK).

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Regarding Erick\'s statement, the president of the Indonesian Workers\' Association, Mirah Sumirat, noted that a paid vaccine program for employees could burden workers.

He said vaccination in the midst of a health crisis like this should be the responsibility of the state. He suggested that the government increase the number of free vaccination centers for the community and speed up their distribution.

TANGKAPAN LAYAR AKUN RESMI SEKRETARIAT PRESIDEN DI KANAL YOUTUBE

Sinopharm vaccine arrives at Soekarno-Hatta Airport, Tangerang, Banten, Tuesday (13/7/2021). This vaccine is prepared for mutual cooperation which is borne by business entities and individuals.

The secretary general of the All-Indonesian Workers Organization, Timboel Siregar, said the same thing. He said that having paid vaccinations limited to employees of companies registered with the VGR through Kadin could allow companies to burden workers with the cost of the vaccine.

The coordinator of the Human Rights Teaching Union, Al Khanif, who is also a lecturer at the Faculty of Law at the University of Jember, expressed his opposition to the paid vaccination policy. (MTK/TAN/AGE/INA/NSA)

(This article was translated by Kurniawan Siswoko)