142 Thousand Citizens Of DKI Jakarta Have Been Injected With Phase Three Of COVID-19 Vaccine

JAKARTA - DKI Jakarta Province has started the third phase of vaccination targeting the general public. Jakarta is a pilot project province in the third phase of vaccination and currently, the third phase vaccine of DKI has injected 142 thousand residents.

"We have started and vaccinated on May 5. Until now, about 142 thousand residents have been injected with the vaccine. So, that's quite a lot too", said Head of the Epidemiological Surveillance and Immunization Section of the DKI Health Service Ngabila Salama in a virtual press conference, Tuesday, May 18th.

Ngabila said that the third stage of vaccination aimed at the community that was carried out had injection priority criteria. Because currently, the COVID-19 vaccine stock is not fully sufficient.

The group that takes precedence in the third stage of vaccination is the vulnerable community, namely those who live in slum neighborhoods. The DKI Provincial Government has designated 445 slum neighborhoods in this program.

"In accordance with a circular from the Ministry of Health, DKI Jakarta is asked to vaccinate vulnerable people, especially in slum areas. So, we will follow up by mapping", said Ngabila.

Apart from residents in slum neighborhoods, the DKI Provincial Government has also prioritized neighborhoods which are local transmission sites for virus mutations. As is known, there was one case in DKI Jakarta that was infected with the B1617 virus mutation.

Then, the third stage of vaccination also prioritizes neighborhoods that have a high risk of COVID-19 (red zone) and medium risk (orange zone).

"We update the red and orange ones every week and we do the total coverage of vaccinations in the neighborhood", she explained.

Continuing, the spokesperson for vaccination from the Ministry of Health, Siti Nadia Tarmizi, said that the target of the third phase of vaccination was 140 million people.

Unfortunately, the dose of vaccine currently available is not sufficient to be injected at once. Therefore, the government determines the priority groups in the third phase of vaccination.

Nadia said, there are a number of criteria that can classify the priority of vaccine recipients. They are a vulnerable group from a geospatial aspect. Second, in terms of economic and social aspects.

Thus, the community groups that are the priority in the third phase of vaccination are residents in slum neighborhoods or densely populated settlements. "Those whose economy is down, then socially less fortunate, this is what we prioritize", said Nadia.

Not only that, but the third phase of vaccination prioritizing vulnerable groups also targets groups with disabilities and people with mental disorders.

Nadia said there was no specific vaccine type selection in this third phase of vaccination. The government will use whatever vaccines are available.

"There is a Sinovac vaccine, we use it. AstraZeneca vaccine, we will use it. Later we will also use the Novavax and Pfizer brands. We will also use those brands or types of vaccines", explained Nadia.