As of Friday (27/8/2021), according to data from the Health Ministry, only 24.19 percent of elderly Indonesians had received their first vaccine dose, and 17.16 percent had received the second injection.
By
Kompas Team
·5 minutes read
KOMPAS/AGUS SUSANTO
Covid-19 vaccination for the elderly at the Duren Sawit Sub-district Health Center, East Jakarta, on Tuesday (23/2/2021)
The government has asked COVID-19 vaccination drive organizers to target the elderly in addition to other priority groups. More efforts are needed so that vulnerable people, such as the elderly, can be vaccinated.
JAKARTA, KOMPAS — Even though the elderly have been prioritized for COVID-19 vaccination for six months, their immunization coverage remains very low. Vaccination for the elderly is important to reduce the risk of severe cases and death if they are infected with virus.
Therefore, vaccination drive organizers must help improve coverage for the elderly. The elder have limited access to information related to vaccines and vaccination locations.
As of Friday (27/8/2021), according to data from the Health Ministry, only 24.19 percent of elderly Indonesians had received their first vaccine dose, and 17.16 percent had received the second injection. In total, 21,553,118 elderly people are targeted in the public vaccination program.
As reported in a Kompas investigation report on Friday (27/8), the vaccination quota for the elderly is under the local administration (Pemda), which also targets other groups, such as health workers, educators and state civil servants. In addition to the local administration, vaccination organizers have, for some time, involved the Indonesian Military (TNI), the National Police, political parties and community organizations.
Health Ministry spokesperson for COVID-19 vaccination Siti Nadia Tarmizi said on Friday that she hoped the local administration would mobilize all vaccine providers to encourage the administration of COVID-19 vaccines to the elderly.
“The local administration, through the health office, must track and record the elderly who have not been vaccinated. The organizers are also encouraged to help expand vaccination coverage for the elderly,” she said.
Nadia said all vaccines sent from the central government were distributed through pharmaceutical warehouses owned by provincial administrations. The hope is that the provincial administration can determine the distribution of vaccines to each region.
ISTIMEWA/KEMENTERIAN KESEHATAN
Health Ministry spokesperson for COVID-19 vaccination Siti Nadia Tarmizi.
Diah Satyani Saminarsih, gender and youth advisor to the director general of the World Health Organization (WHO) said vaccination had to be based on the principles of justice and equality, that vulnerable groups should receive the vaccine first or at least around the same time.
CISDI policy director Olivia Herlinda emphasized the principle of equity in vaccination to prevent patient deaths. She said vaccination in the country had not been carried out according to the principles of epidemiology and seemed to be pursuing the quantity of coverage alone.
Regarding the involvement of political parties as collaborators in the COVID-19 vaccination drive, Wasisto Raharjo Jati, a researcher from the Political Research Center (P2P) of the Indonesian Institute of Sciences, said the step was part of an effort to reach the widest possible community.
However, to prevent vaccination from being used for electoral campaign purposes, the government must actively monitor it. "The government must improve the distribution and implementation of vaccinations in the field," he said.
Right of reply
Regarding the article “Ada Transaksi Vaksinasi” (Money involved in vaccination) on page two of the Friday edition of Kompas (27/8), Dewi Aryani, a member of House of Representatives Commission IX from the PDI-P faction, said she only helped residents of the Icon-Caspia housing development in Cisauk, Tangerang, in the vaccination drive. "We, in our capacity as members of House Commission IX, only help residents who ask for vaccines. The funding for the vaccination activity comes from the people," said Dewi on Friday.
In fact, they said, the management issued a subsidy for the participants in the activity who were underprivileged.
The neighborhood and community units (RT, RW) for Icon-Caspia, in a letter, said the residents would receive the Sinovac vaccine for free, without any payments to political parties. Meanwhile, for the organization of the vaccination event, for example for the health workers, for the IT team inputting data into the PeduliLindung website and for personal protective equipment for the health workers, it was agreed that a contribution of Rp 45,000 per person would be charged per vaccine. The organizing committee said they did not collect any profit from the activity. In fact, they said, the management issued a subsidy for the participants in the activity who were underprivileged.
Separately, House Commission IX deputy chairman from the PDI-P faction, Charles Honoris, said he had nothing to do with vaccination activities at the Icon-Caspia housing development.
Vaccination before the National Olympics (PON)
In Papua, Minister of Youth and Sports Zainudin Amali, together with National Police chief Gen. Listyo Sigit Prabowo and TNI commander Marshal Hadi Tjahjanto, monitored the COVID-19 vaccination process in Jayapura city and Merauke regency on Friday. The two regions will help host the National Olympics in Papua from Oct. 2 to 15.
Kompas/AGUS SUSANTO
Aerial photo of the Papua Bangkit Main Stadium and the athletic arena in Jayapura, Papua, on Saturday (29/2/2020).
Before the National Olympics are opened, vaccination coverage in the cities that are to host the sporting event must be at least 70 percent. "The president has instructed people who live around the PON arena to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. Therefore, residents who want to watch the matches in the PON must be vaccinated," said Zainudin. The TNI commander was optimistic that the coverage of COVID-19 vaccination can reach 70 percent before the PON event because the coverage of the first dose of vaccination was above 40 percent and the second dose was above 20 percent.
Listyo appreciated the enthusiasm of people in the cities that were to host the sport event in participating in the COVID-19 vaccination. "People\'s immune system will increase after receiving the COVID-19 vaccine. The public can watch matches in the PON arena more safely,” he said.(TAN/REK/FAI/DVD/IRE/NDY/FLO/WER/NIK/BRO/ ETA/IKI/TAM/JUM)
(This article was translated byKurniawan Siswoko).
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