Free Dose 3 Vaccines For BPJS Patients, Minister Of Health Budi: Sorry Members Of Parliament, Whose Income Is Enough To Pay

JAKARTA - Minister of Health (Menkes) Budi Gunadi Sadikin reiterated that the planned third dose of COVID-19 vaccination or booster is only given free of charge to people who are registered as participants of BPJS Health Contribution Assistance (PBI) participants. The plan, booster vaccination will start in 2022.

Thus, he apologized to members of the Indonesian House of Representatives because next year they will not be able to get a booster vaccination for free. The reason is that the people's representatives are considered capable of paying for themselves without having to be borne by the state.

"So we apologize, ladies and gentlemen, members of the DPR, whose income is sufficient, later we will ask to pay for it ourselves," Budi said in a Working Meeting with Commission IX of the DPR RI, reported by era.id, Monday, November 8.

Budi explained that later on for people who are included in the paid booster vaccination category, they can choose the brand of COVID-19 vaccine that will be used.

Furthermore, Budi explained, the booster vaccination will only be applied if 50 percent of the Indonesian population has received the full dose of vaccination. He estimates that the target can be achieved by the end of December 2021.

According to him, by December 2021 there will be 59 percent of the population in Indonesia who have received the full dose of Covid-19 vaccination. Meanwhile, 80 percent of the first dose has been injected. Later, the booster vaccine will only be injected once.

"So this is a more appropriate time, more fitting for us to be able to give booster vaccines in the future," said Budi. The plan is that booster vaccinations will be prioritized for the elderly (elderly). This is because the elderly have a higher risk of dying from Covid-19 than other age groups.

So far, said Budi, the choice of booster vases is Sinovac, AstraZeneca, Moderna, Pfizer, and Sinopharm.

However, Budi said that his party was still conducting clinical trials with universities to administer different types of vaccines. The Ministry of Health is still figuring out the effectiveness of the Covid-19 vaccine booster if it is given in the same brand, or in different brands.

"Our booster is conducting clinical trials with universities, so the terms are homologous (one brand) or hereteologus (different brands). It is hoped that it will be completed by the end of December," he concluded.