Luhut: January 2021, 100 Million Indonesian People Will Be Vaccinated

JAKARTA - Deputy Chairman of the COVID-19 Handling Committee Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan said Indonesia will continue to face a critical period for the next two or three months. Therefore, Luhut hopes that the provision of the COVID-19 vaccine can start immediately in December.

Luhut said that the vaccinations that will be given in December to early 2021 will be prioritized for health workers and their supporters. This is important because they are at the forefront of dealing with transmission of this virus.

"So this December the Government has prepared both Kasad and Polri for our health elements to carry out injections in places that will be prioritized, especially the health department and assistants. If this is passed by January, nearly 100 million of these will be injected. I think it might be under control, "Luhut told an online press conference, Friday, September 18.

In addition, Luhut explained that Indonesia would get more than 270 million doses of vaccine so that it was sufficient to meet the needs of the community. Moreover, the request for an additional 20 million doses of vaccine to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has been approved and currently, the government is requesting another 10 million more vaccines.

This request, he said, was conveyed directly to the Minister of Energy and Industry of the United Arab Emirates Suhail Mohamed Al Mazrouei some time ago.

"We've got 20 million doses, no problem. We want to add more, if possible we add another 10 million," he explained.

Although currently there are many doses of vaccines, before these items were available in Indonesia, people still change their indifferent attitude to obeying health protocols. Moreover, the increase in positive cases of COVID-19 continues to occur in the community.

"We can see that there is an upward trend in cases in September compared to August, although the number of cures has also increased. This is a paradox," he said.

It is known that Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan was appointed by President Joko Widodo to reduce the rate of COVID-19 in a number of provinces. In carrying out his duties, the Coordinating Minister (Menko) Maritime and Investment has 2 weeks.

According to Wiku Adisasmito, spokesperson for the COVID-19 Task Force, Luhut has a number of ways to carry out his duties. First, Luhut will synchronize data between the central and regional governments in order to make quick decisions. Because, so far, updating of COVID-19 case data between the central government has always been different from each province.

"The second is to carry out justisi operations to enforce the discipline of health protocols by using regulations for criminals who take action to act against those who violate the rules," said Wiku.

Third, Luhut will improve the management of COVID-19 patient care to reduce the death rate and increase the cure rate. The fourth is the handling of COVID-19 in a cluster in each of these provinces.

"So, the handling must be more specific in certain areas in the province," said Wiku.