Special Approach Needed for Elderly

Even though it has been three years since the pandemic began, Covid-19 vaccination coverage of the elderly is still low. A special approach is necessary to convince the elderly to be vaccinated against Covid-19.

KOMPAS/RIZA FATHONI

An elderly woman gets an injection of the Covid-19 booster vaccine to residents in the courtyard of the DKI Jakarta City Hall, Tuesday (24/1/2023).

JAKARTA, KOMPAS – The coverage rate of the first and second booster doses against Covid-19 among the elderly is still far behind the target. This is concerning, as older people make up the majority of Covid-19 patients needing treatment as well as Covid-19 deaths. Several parties believe that the vaccine rollout for the elderly requires a new and special approach.

Based on data from the Health Ministry as of Tuesday (24/1/2023), only 7.24 million senior citizens (33.61%) have received a first booster dose and only 411,812 senior citizens (1.91%) have received a second booster dose. These figures are far below the target of at least 70 percent of the total elderly population of 21.55 million.

At a working meeting with House of Representatives Commission IX in Jakarta on Tuesday (24/1), Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin said the vaccination coverage rate among the elderly was increasingly worrying, as elderly patients with comorbidities dominated Covid-19 hospitalizations and deaths. Quite a large number of senior citizens had not been vaccinated at all.

Also read:

> Second Booster Vaccine

> Staying Vigilant Against Covid-19

The nationwide Covid-19 vaccination rate had decreased from an average 61,916 doses per day in December 2022 to 27,263 doses per day in January 2023. Moreover, only 10 out of 34 provinces had reported reaching the 70 percent vaccination target among the elderly population in their area, even though the primary vaccination round must have been completed before getting a booster dose.

“Indonesia has sufficient vaccine stock, as there are 9.39 million doses. However, there is a lack of motivation among the elderly to get vaccinated. They have a tendency to remain unvaccinated,” said Budi.

Going forward, Budi said, there would be a focus on vaccine awareness and education for senior citizens. Many older people thought that they did not need to be vaccinated anymore because of their age. The new approach aimed to raise awareness among the elderly of the dangers of Covid-19 infection and the importance of vaccination.

KOMPAS/RONY ARIYANTO NUGROHO

Minister of Health Budi Gunadi Sadikin attending a working meeting with Commission IX in the Meeting Room of Commission IX DPR RI, Jakarta, Tuesday (24/1/2023). The Minister of Health, Budi Gunadi Sadikin, explained the evaluation of the national priority work program and the Republic of Indonesia's Ministry of Health priorities for 2022.

Special strategy

Several House Commission IX members also expressed concern about the low Covid-19 vaccination rate among the elderly. Edy Wuryanto, from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) faction, said vulnerable groups like the elderly required special treatment.

“The elderly in Indonesia need to be prepared and protected to prevent them from becoming victims of Covid-19. In other countries, some places even force [senior citizens] to be vaccinated [...]. Indonesia is not like that, and needs a breakthrough [program] to protect the elderly,” said Edy.

According to Indonesian epidemiologist Dicky Budiman of Australia’s Griffith University, vaccinating the elderly came with its own challenges, including vaccine literacy, access to vaccination centers and vaccination schedules that did not conflict with their work hours.

“The government can take the initiative and visit every senior citizen door to door,” he added.

Also read:Handling of the Pandemic Continues

The vaccine doses did not need to be administered during these visits, which could also be used to explore any problems and make any necessary adjustments to their solutions. For example, older people who believed in hoaxes could be educated first, while those who believed that vaccines were haram could also meet with religious leaders and obtain clarification.

Essentially, encouraging vaccination among the elderly required special efforts, which could be developed by involving all parties, from religious leaders, the public and elderly groups, to their family members.

Separately, epidemiologist Pandu Riono from the University of Indonesia’s public health faculty in Jakarta, said that the second Covid-19 booster dose for people aged 18 years and above had not been administered with urgency, given that the pandemic was subsiding and currently under control.

This was reflected by the number of active Covid-19 cases in Indonesia, which stood at 0.09 percent of the population and had a positivity rate of 9.08 percent. The fatality rate was also much lower, which had convinced people that the Covid-19 pandemic is over.

According to him, the government still needed to prevent virus transmission to vulnerable groups, including the elderly who had not received any booster doses. One way was to encourage vulnerable groups to be vaccinated. The vaccination coverage rate among the elderly must reach 90 percent.

KOMPAS/P RADITYA MAHENDRA YASA

The second booster vaccination program was carried out again to prevent the spread of Covid-19 at the City Hall Office, Semarang City, Central Java, Wednesday (25/1/2023). This booster vaccine is also prioritized for the elderly, public and health services and residents who are at high risk.

Second booster dose

Previously, the Health Ministry stated that the rollout of the second Covid-19 booster dose would begin on 24 Jan. 2023. People aged 18 years and above are eligible for receiving a second booster dose of a vaccine that has received emergency use authorization from the Food and Drug Monitoring Agency (BPOM).

The vaccines used as a second booster dose include Indovac, Inavac, Pfizer and Zifivax. Other vaccine products, such as Janssen and Sinopharm, are also available in certain areas.

A number of regions, including several districts and cities in Central Java, started administering the second booster dose program on Tuesday (24/1/2023).

In Central Java, the booster rollout is targeting around 27 million recipients. To date, however, a coverage rate of 30 percent has been reached, slower than the primary vaccination coverage rate, which has reached over 70 percent.

Hopefully, the targets will be reached by 6 February.

“There are still many people who feel they don’t need a booster dose. Some are just looking [to get] a booster dose to travel outside the island or abroad,” said Atin Suhesti, the head of surveillance and immunization at the Central Java Health Agency.

The second booster dose program also started rolling out in Tangerang municipality, Banten. Tangerang Health Agency secretary Sudarto Mangapul said the coverage rate of the second booster dose was catching up with that of the first booster dose, which had reached 64.9 percent, or 844,329 people. Tangerang residents aged 18 and above had been asked to visit the nearest health facility to get their shot.

Booster coverage among “students and the elderly have not met the target”, Sudarto added. “The elderly is at 56.1 percent while adolescents are at 11 percent. Hopefully, the targets will be reached by 6 February,” he said.

In Bali, one facility rolling out the second booster dose is Wangaya Hospital in North Denpasar district, Denpasar municipality. In addition to administering the second Covid-19 booster dose, the hospital is also administering the first booster dose. (Z11/Z04/RTG/XTI/COK/DAN)

This article was translated by Kesya Adhalia.