People Need Easier Access to Booster Jabs
According to data from the Health Ministry, a booster, or a third dose of a Covid-19 vaccine, has been given to only 18.1 million people, or 8.72 percent of the target.
An employee manually inspects syringes of the SARS CoV-2 Vaccine for COVID-19 produced by SinoVac at its factory in Beijing on Thursday, Sept. 24, 2020. A Chinese health official said Friday, Sept. 25,2020, that the country’s annual production capacity for coronavirus vaccines will top 1 billion doses next year, following an aggressive government support program for construction of new factories.
The government needs to provide easier access for people to be fully vaccinated against Covid-19 as well as get their booster dose to increase their protection against the disease, including the Omicron variant.
JAKARTA, KOMPAS — All travelers should be required to show proof of full vaccination against Covid-19 and a booster dose, not just the people who travel to their hometowns on mudik (exodus) over the upcoming Ramadan-Idul Fitri holiday season. Therefore, access to booster jabs should be improved, because many people still find it difficulty to get their booster dose.
"The booster vaccination program is one of the most important things to increase protection (against Covid-19), in addition to adhering to the health protocols. In this context, I urge the government to accelerate the booster vaccination program in Indonesia, but this must be applied fairly to both mudik travelers and general travelers," epidemiologist Dicky Budiman at Australia’s Griffith University of said on Thursday (24/3/2022).
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According to Dicky, learning from the experience of previous years, allowing mudik was a risk, as it could trigger another surge in new Covid-19 cases. However, many other activities that involved groups of people could also increase the risk of infection, so it was necessary to apply the travel restrictions fairly.
As we can see, a number of countries, including China, are currently experiencing a spike in new cases.
“Even though new cases are currently on a decreasing trend, there is no guarantee that there will be no spike in new cases with the mobility of large numbers of people, such as during mudik. As we can see, a number of countries, including China, are currently experiencing a spike in new cases. So, full vaccination plus a booster [dose] is important," he said.
In a virtual press briefing on Wednesday (23/3), President Joko Widodo said: "People who want to go to their hometowns for Idul Fitri will be allowed, but on the condition that they have received two vaccine doses and a booster shot, and [they] are still required to adhere strictly to the health protocols."
President Joko Widodo speaks at a press conference after reviewing the implementation of vaccine services in Bogor, West Java, Friday (19/3/2021).
Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin told a virtual press briefing on Wednesday evening (23/3) that people who had received a booster dose would be allowed to go on mudik without having to present negative results from antigen or polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests.
However, people who had received just two doses of a Covid-19 vaccine must still present a negative antigen test result, while people who had received just one dose should present a negative PCR test result.
In addition to the latest travel restriction, the government was continuing to expand coverage of the vaccination drive. Later, ahead of the Idul Fitri holiday, a number of vaccination centers would be opened in strategic locations near popular mudik routes. Travelers who were not fully vaccinated or had a booster dose could get their jabs on the spot. At present, around 80 million vaccine doses were available in the country. The amount was sufficient for the next four months.
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Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin.
Vaccine rate still low
According to data from the Health Ministry, a booster, or a third dose of a Covid-19 vaccine, has been given to only 18.1 million people, or 8.72 percent of the target. Second dose vaccination has also not been carried out evenly, because at least 18 provinces still have a second dose coverage of less than 70 percent.
Amanda Tan, from independent data tracker LaporCOVID-19, said that imposing a third vaccine dose as a travel requirement must be accompanied with equitable vaccine access across all regions.
"We are still receiving complaints from people who are having difficulties getting a booster dose, for example from residents in Lampung on 10 and 16 March and from Malang on 4 March," she said.
In addition to easier access, Dicky said, the government’s consistency in risk communication was very important in accelerating the delivery of vaccines for both the primary vaccine schedule and the booster jab.
It generally occurs after restrictions are eased, and the public's risk perception goes haywire.
“In all countries, the booster rollout has not been as fast as [the rollout for] the first and second doses. One reason for this is [public] euphoria, as though the pandemic were over. It generally occurs after restrictions are eased, and the public's risk perception goes haywire," he said.
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Overcoming Constraints on Vaccine Distribution
A number of studies show that a booster dose can substantially enhance protection, including from the Omicron variant. However, this protection decreases over time, as revealed in scientific evidence published in The New England Journal of Medicine on 2 March 2022.
Double immunity
Budi explained that, according to some information, there was a spike in new Covid-19 cases in several European countries, such as the United Kingdom, Germany and France. New Zealand also recorded a spike, as did several Asian countries, such as South Korea, Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong, and China.
These spikes were related to an outbreak of the BA.2 subvariant of Omicron, which had a higher risk of transmission than the previous Omicron subvariants, B.1 and B1.1.
People wearing protective face masks to help curb the spread of the coronavirus move past an electronic stock board showing Japan’s Nikkei 225 index at a securities firm Friday, Nov. 27, 2020, in Tokyo. Asian stock markets declined Friday as questions about the effectiveness of one possible coronavirus vaccine weighed on investor optimism.
In fact, the situation was anomalous in Hong Kong, where the vaccination rate was high, but hospitalization and fatality rates were also high.
After an investigation, it was discovered that Hong Kong did not prioritize vaccination for the elderly, but instead prioritized youths aged 12-19 years, which had achieved a vaccination rate of 65 percent, and for people aged 20-59, which had reached a vaccination rate of 85.14 percent.
On the other hand, the vaccination rate among the elderly remained low at 60 percent for senior citizens aged over 60 years and only 28.62 percent for senior citizens aged 80 years and over.
"This had led to a high death rate in Hong Kong," said Budi.
In contrast, neither Indonesia nor India had recorded a significant increase in new cases, even though the B.2 subvariant had entered the two countries. This was because the citizens in the two countries had developed double immunity, which meant they had greater immunity against the B.2 subvariant.
Double immunity had developed because many Indonesians had contracted Covid-19 during the peak of the Delta wave in May 2021. As a result, many Indonesians had gained natural immunity from being infected. Their immunity further increased after the government’s accelerated vaccination drive in September 2021.
Because of this encouraging condition, the government decided to ease the health protocols but accelerate its vaccination program to enhance protection against the disease. Now, the primary goal is to protect the elderly against the risk of transmission during the upcoming Idul Fitri holiday. (AIK/RAM)
(This article was translated by Hendarsyah Tarmizi)
