Task Force: Community Immunity Research Will Be Completed By The End Of December

JAKARTA - Spokesperson for the COVID-19 Task Force, Wiku Adisasmito, said that research on the level of community immunity to COVID-19 based on vaccine protection and natural immunity is targeted to be completed no later than the fourth week of December 2021.

"Currently, the SARS-CoV-2 antibody survey is still being carried out in 34 provinces in Indonesia covering around 1.000 villages and agglomeration areas," said Wiku Adisasmito at a press conference on the Development of COVID-19 Handling, quoted by Antara, November 23.

Wiku said the program was run by the Ministry of Health, Ministry of Home Affairs and supported by researchers from universities in Indonesia.

He said the research was expected to be analyzed soon and the results could come out in the third or fourth week at the end of 2021.

The results of this study are expected to provide information on how much community immunity has been formed in Indonesia due to the influence of natural infection and vaccination.

"These results can be used as the basis for data-based policymaking," he said.

Previously, an epidemiologist from Gadjah Mada University (UGM) estimated that 80 percent of Indonesians had been exposed to the Delta variant. This situation is thought to have contributed to the drastic drop in cases and Indonesia has established communal immunity.