Ministry Of Health: Three-Dose Vaccine Protects Elderly From COVID-19 New Variant

JAKARTA - Spokesperson for the COVID-19 Vaccination of the Ministry of Health, Siti Nadia Tarmizi, said that the third dose of COVID-19 vaccination or booster vaccine for the elderly can protect them from the latest variants of COVID-19, such as the more virulent Delta variant.

“The Delta variant already has its derivatives, which even reach 70 species. This will have an impact on vaccine efficacy, so we need additional vaccines to strengthen immunity or antibodies that we have previously formed from the first and second doses of vaccines," Nadia said at the Merdeka Barat Forum which was attended in Jakarta, reported by Antara, Thursday, November 11.

The Ministry of Health, according to him, will prioritize the elderly to get the third dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, which according to the Minister of Health will start being injected in 2022.

However, currently the government still has 'homework' to vaccinate around 60 percent of the targeted elderly for COVID-19 vaccination who have not been vaccinated with the first dose.

"We have to find them, we really have to convince them. They must really be educated and motivated so they want to be vaccinated,” said Nadia.

The reason is, to get out of the COVID-19 pandemic, the community must jointly create communal immunity which can only be formed if 208.26 million people have been given the COVID-19 vaccine.

On the same occasion, Internal Medicine Specialist Dirga Sakti Rambo said that the government's policy of taking the third dose of COVID-19 vaccine for the elderly was supported by complete data.

“The data suggest that our immunity will decrease over time. With a booster or additional injection, it is hoped that the antibodies will increase so that the protection remains optimal," he said.

According to him, at least 50 percent of the target community for the COVID-19 vaccine must have received the complete dose before the booster vaccine can be injected. By injecting the booster vaccine, which is just waiting for the right time, it is hoped that community immunity can be achieved.

"So we first increase the overall vaccination coverage, after that we give a booster which is scientifically necessary to increase our protection," he said.