In Effort To Control COVID-19, Government Extends PPKM To Optimize Vaccine Booster

JAKARTA - The number of positive cases of COVID-19 in Indonesia has recently increased again. The high mobility of the public and foreign travel agents (PPLN) are said to be the triggers.

Based on data, active cases as of January 15, 2022, there were 8.463 cases, up 92.38 percent from cases as of January 1, 2022, which were 4.399 cases. The proportion of Active Cases from Outside Java-Bali is 23.0 percent (1.944 cases out of 8.458 cases nationwide). Meanwhile, daily confirmed cases as of January 15 were 1.054 cases and an average of 7 days was 733 cases.

“The effective case reproduction rate (Rt) in several islands has increased, except for Java, Nusa Tenggara, Sulawesi, and Papua. However, the national Rt is still at level 1 or under control," said Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto, in a press statement after the Community Activity Restrictions (PPKM) Evaluation Meeting, virtually, quoted Monday, January 17.

According to Airlangga, the thing to watch out for is the number of deaths (case fatality rate/CFR) which in the last two weeks increased by 29.03 percent (from a total of 31 cases to a total of 40 cases in the last 7 days).

Omicron Variant Case Development

While the spread of cases of the Omicron variant in Indonesia, as of January 15, there was an upward trend in cases and an increase in cases due to local transmission. The cases of the Omicron variant were still dominated by foreign travelers (PPLN) (78.75%) and most of them were travelers who had just returned from Turkey.

Learning from South Africa and England, the time to the peak of the omicron variant wave is 37 and 42 days. Despite the high case rate, the mortality rate from the Omicron variant is quite low.

"The peak of Omicron cases is estimated to start in late January or early February 2022. It's been about 40 days since cases started to rise. Therefore, the President's direction asks us not to travel abroad, if there are no urgent matters," said Coordinating Minister Airlangga.

PPKM Extension Outside Java-Bali

After evaluating based on the level of assessment of the pandemic situation (criteria for the level of transmission and response capacity), also taking into account the achievement of vaccination in the Regency/City (with a note: Regency/City with Vaccination Dose-1 below 50 percent is increased by 1 PPKM Level), PPKM in the Outer Java-Bali area was extended for 14 days, namely 18–31 January 2022, with the following composition:

The number of Regencies/Cities with Level 1 PPKM increased from 227 to 238 Regencies/Cities.

The number of Regencies/Cities with Level 2 PPKM decreased from 148 to 138 Regencies/Cities.

The number of Regencies/Cities with Level 3 PPKM decreased from 11 to 10 Regencies/Cities.

The number of regencies/cities with Level 4 PPKM remains 0 Regencies/cities.

Changes in the composition of Regency/City PPKM Levels outside Java-Bali have consistently improved, with the number of districts/cities at Level 1 continuing to increase and Regencies/Cities in PPKM Levels 2 and 3.

Update on Vaccination Implementation

Currently, there are 398 districts/cities that have achieved 70 percent coverage of General Dose-1 and 60% coverage of Elderly Dose-1. Overall, there are 28 provinces that have achieved general vaccination coverage above 70%, except North Maluku, Maluku, West Papua, and Papua. The average rate of vaccination in the last week was 1.191.758 doses/day.

Meanwhile, the Booster Vaccination Program has been implemented starting January 12, 2022, for residents aged 18 years and over. As of January 15, 2022, 1.444.934 doses of booster have been given, with details of 1.337.800 doses for HRK, 78.096 doses for the elderly, 30.034 doses for the general public, and 736 doses for public officials.

The types of vaccines that have received EUA BPOM as a booster dose are Sinovac (homologous), Pfizer, AstraZeneca, Moderna, and Zifivax (each heterologously).

"The President's directive, must also prepare a Red and White Vaccine or other vaccines produced domestically, and targeted for (use) in the middle of this year or Semester 2," said Coordinating Minister Airlangga.