The Irony Of Thousands Of AstraZeneca In Kudus Expires When Many Areas Lack Vaccines

JAKARTA - Commission IX of the House of Representatives regrets that there are 4,000 expired AstraZeneca vaccines in Kudus, Central Java. The commission in charge of health affairs has asked the government to anticipate so that cases of expired vaccines do not recur.

"The government should take precautions. We ask that we immediately take measures for the Covid-19 vaccine so that it does not expire," said Member of Commission IX of the Indonesian House of Representatives, Rahmad Handoyo, Friday, November 5.

Vaccine expiration cases in Kudus were assessed because of the slow distribution of vaccines from the province to the districts. In addition, said Rahmad, this incident occurred due to the lack of rapid injection of vaccines to the public.

"Although further studies are needed whether it can still be used or not, staff management should really be managed properly, how is the governance when dealing with vaccines being chased by expiration dates," he said.

"This is an unfortunate thing because there are still many regions that currently lack a vaccine quota and still have to wait for it from producing countries," continued Rahmad.

The legislator from the V Central Java electoral district asked the government to provide an explanation regarding the expired vaccine in Kudus. Rahmad also asked for an active role from local governments to work quickly in distributing vaccines to the public once the vaccine stock was sent by the center.

“There needs to be coordination of all parties, especially stakeholders so that similar incidents do not happen again. The regional government must move quickly to distribute vaccines to the community so that no vaccine is wasted,” he said.

Furthermore, Rahmad appealed to local governments to have more initiatives if they had vaccine stocks that were almost expired. He gave the example of the Sukoharjo Regency Government which diverted tens of thousands of doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine that was about to expire to other regions.

“The local government must immediately report any problems, either to the province or to the center. When his office receives a vaccine that will expire in a few days, immediately coordinate to which areas are in short supply, and they are able to complete the vaccination with a time limit of a few days before it expires, "explained Rahmad.

Therefore, Commission IX of the House of Representatives appreciates the local government who plays an active role so that the vaccine acceleration program can run well. Rahmad stated that local governments cannot work alone, so the key to successful vaccination is coordination.

“Essentially, we encourage all parties to cooperate with each other and the government to immediately find a solution if it finds a problem. Don't just stand still," he said.

To the public, Rahmad again reminded them to immediately register for the vaccine if they have not yet received it.

"Let's help the government to make the Covid-19 vaccine program a success while remaining disciplined in implementing health protocols so that we can immediately be free from the pandemic," concluded Rahmad.