While Waiting For The Vaccine To Be Injected, 3M Implementation Must Be Carried Out

JAKARTA - Several countries, such as America, Canada, United Arab Emirates, and Britain, have started vaccinating COVID-19 as a specific preventive measure against the transmission of the virus which claimed many victims.

Indonesia is also preparing for the COVID-19 vaccination, where the Food and Drug Administration (Badan POM) is currently evaluating the safety and effectiveness of vaccines that arrived in Indonesia some time ago.

Vaccineologist and Internal Medicine Specialist, dr. Dirga Sakti Rambe, responding to the dynamics in the community who can't wait for the next stage of this vaccination program. He saw the tendency of many people to speculate about vaccines.

"Even though this is still a process, the POM is still conducting studies and there will not be any vaccinations before the permission from the POM is issued. This is the government's effort to ensure that the vaccines we use are truly safe and effective," said Dirga in a written statement. received by VOI, Wednesday, December 16.

He said this during the Productive Dialogue with the theme "Vaccines: Facts and Hoaxes" organized by the Committee for Handling COVID-19 and National Economic Recovery (KPCPEN), Tuesday, December 15.

The vaccination process is considered as the government's effort in dealing with the pandemic. He urged people not to be silent, in order to heal an economy that was being hit.

"Therefore, extra efforts need to be made, namely the health protocol must be carried out consistently, with the vaccination it is hoped that it will help, because vaccines provide specific protection," explained Dirga.

Meanwhile, he continued, COVID-19 has a wide spectrum of symptoms in sufferers, ranging from having no symptoms at all to having severe symptoms which make the process of identifying patients increasingly difficult.

"Even research shows that 40 percent of COVID-19 patients are asymptomatic. Even so, it is important to know, whether symptomatic or not, all COVID-19 patients can pass it on to other people," explained Dirga further.

The public, however, must adhere to 3M's health protocols. According to Dirga, this health protocol should not be a slogan, until later after being vaccinated.

"Because every prevention effort is not perfect, we have to really do everything," he said.

Regarding the vaccination program that is being finalized by the government, Dirga responded that each country has different policies in prioritizing which citizens get vaccinated first.

"Indonesia prioritizes health workers first who directly treat COVID-19 patients on a daily basis, and specifically in Indonesia too, vaccines are given to residents aged 18-59 years. Vaccines are given to healthy people as a preventive measure. In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, for patients who have recovered, it is not a priority target because they are considered to have immunity, "said Dirga.

Cherryl Hatumesen, Survivor of COVID-19 confirmed the statement of dr. Dirga, as a survivor, initially did not feel any severe symptoms before finally taking a swab test and testing positive.

"The COVID-19 virus really does exist, so while waiting for the vaccine, the 3M protocol (Wearing a mask, washing hands, and keeping your distance) must be implemented. In addition, in dealing with COVID-19, you need maturity, not to be afraid to admit it. if infected so that they can protect the people around us, "said Cherryl.

Responding to the dynamics in society related to this vaccine, Cherryl Hatumesen said, there are still people who are not enthusiastic about the arrival of the COVID-19 vaccine, even though these anti-vaccine groups are quite educated.

"If I haven't had COVID-19, I will definitely want to be vaccinated directly," he said.