Menkes: Vaksin Penguat untuk Lansia Gratis

JAKARTA - Health Minister, Budi Gunadi Sadikin, said booster COVID-19 vaccinations for the elderly group will be provided free of charge starting January 2022.

"We give this booster based on risk, namely to the elderly. Because everywhere in the world, this booster is distributed on a risk basis, after the health worker is given to the elderly", said Budi Gunadi Sadikin, while attending a virtual hearing (RDP) with Commission IX of the House of Representatives, quoted by Antara, Tuesday, December 14.

Budi said the free booster vaccine applies to the elderly recipients of BPJS Health Contribution Assistance (PBI) and non-PBI.

He explained that the government has divided two scenarios of financing for booster vaccinations ahead of implementation starting in January 2022, namely vaccination for PBI and non-PBI elderly is borne by the state, while independent and non-elder vaccination will involve private pharmaceutical companies.

"We will open it up so that pharmaceutical companies import their vaccines and sell them directly to the public so that there will be a balance in the market and there will be more public access in choosing the type of vaccine", he said.

The booster vaccine which is the burden of the APBN, continued the Minister of Health, will be given to 83.1 million people with an allocation of around 92 million doses of vaccine, while the non-APBN booster vaccine will be given to 125 million people with the need for a vaccine amount of around 139 million doses, including backup vaccines.

The priority of booster vaccines for the elderly, said Budi, is an important thing that the government pays attention to because they are included in the group vulnerable to contracting and falling ill due to COVID-19.

"Indeed, we admit that this (older vaccination) is the most difficult and the most competitive compared to other professions and ages to get vaccinated, especially if he is a bit far from a big city or provincial capital", he said.

According to Budi, currently, only nine provinces in Indonesia have succeeded in meeting the first dose target of 60 percent of elderly vaccinations, including DKI Jakarta, Bali, Yogyakarta, Riau Islands, Central Java, West Java, Bangka Belitung, Banten, and North Sulawesi.