Welcome! Now Is The Era Of COVID-19 Vaccine Certificates

JAKARTA - To be able to do activities outside the home amid various restrictions, now people from various countries must be prepared with requirements.

Not only must they be completely healthy and have proof of the test results being free of exposure to the new type of corona virus (COVID-19), but also must have a vaccination certificate. The certificate is proof of having been vaccinated against COVID-19.

This obligation is increasingly becoming a trend in multinational companies. The goal is none other than to suppress the spread of the virus.

Tech companies Google and Facebook, for example, will require employees to get vaccinated against COVID-19 before returning to work. Launching the Financial Times, the policy was implemented in line with the increase in new cases of the Delta variant of COVID-19 in the United States.

Google Chief Executive Sundar Pichai said mandatory vaccine rules would be introduced in the US in the coming weeks, before being implemented globally for its 144,000 employees.

However, the implementation of the vaccine policy will vary according to local conditions and regulations and will not take effect until the vaccine is widely available in the employee's area of residence.

Google will develop an exclusion policy for people who cannot be vaccinated for medical or other protective reasons.

Facebook also said it would require anyone who works in the company's offices to be vaccinated.

"How we implement this policy will depend on local conditions and regulations," Facebook vice president of human resources Lori Goler said in a statement.

In addition to Google and Facebook, Twitter said workers who came to offices located in New York and San Francisco needed to provide proof of vaccination earlier this week.

On the other hand, Amazon, which has more than 1.3 million employees worldwide, has offered a $80 bonus for frontline workers who have been vaccinated, starting last January. For all employees, the company also has an internal vaccination certificate program.

Since the start of the pandemic, the US tech industry has moved faster to fight the virus than some other sectors. They often set an example for other companies.

In Indonesia, the requirement for employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19 also seems to be a requirement for office work. This is in line with the wider access to get the vaccine.

This policy is also an effort to minimize the potential for transmission of the corona virus. Moreover, in the past, it was rumored that office activities had led to clusters of contagion.

Currently, employees or staff who are allowed to work in the office are those whose companies are engaged in essential and critical sectors. If for the past few weeks they have had enough of a worker registration certificate (STRP), now they must also have been vaccinated.

The regulation is contained in the Decree of the Head of the DKI Jakarta Manpower, Transmigration and Energy Office Number 1972/2021 which was issued on July 26, 2021 and is valid until August 2, 2021.

Through this regulation, the DKI Jakarta Provincial Government requires workers who work from the office (WFO) in essential and critical sectors to have been vaccinated against COVID-19 at least the first dose.

In addition to having been vaccinated, according to the Head of the DKI Jakarta Manpower, Transmigration and Energy Office, Andri Yansyah, the protocol for preventing and controlling COVID-19 in private, BUMN and BUMD offices/workplaces also regulates the capacity limit of the number of people who are in the workplace within a certain period of time. together.

The limitation on the number of people is carried out by implementing strict health protocols through regulating operating hours, capacity for the number of people, carrying out periodic COVID-19 tests and completing vaccinations for all workers.

In addition, business actors are required to make STRP collectively through the Jakevo application for essential and critical sector workers in private, BUMN and BUMD-owned offices/workplaces.

The decision also stipulates that there will be no termination of employment (PHK) and will continue to provide rights that are normally received by workers who are in self-isolation. Furthermore, giving a warning sanction in the form of a warning letter for workers who do not implement the health protocol.

Then, if a confirmed COVID-19 worker is found, the workplace will be closed for 3X24 hours and thoroughly disinfect the room and report online to the DKI Jakarta Manpower, Transmigration and Energy Office.

If there is a cluster of COVID-19 transmission, the building is closed in a single area for 3X24 hours based on the recommendation of the health department and restricts access to entry and electricity in work areas where there are confirmed COVID-19 workers.

Not only for working in offices in essential and critical sectors, citizens who are active in public spaces must also be vaccinated. Not only in shopping centers, even in traditional markets.

Perumda Pasar Jaya, for example, this week has reopened traditional markets in DKI Jakarta. More than 100 markets are managed by this BUMD of DKI Jakarta Province.

The new rules, namely traders and buyers must have been vaccinated, at least the first dose. For example, in Tanah Abang Market, this rule has been applied.

The goal is to reduce the potential for transmission of the corona virus. Moreover, again, in the middle of last year there was a traditional market cluster. The operation of the people's market, including the Tanah Abang Market, is regulated in the Instruction of the Minister of Home Affairs Number 24/2021 regarding PPKM Level 4 and Level 3 COVID-19 in the Java and Bali regions.

In the regulation, it is stated that people's markets that sell non-daily necessities can operate with a maximum capacity of 50 percent and operating hours until 15:00 local time.

Not only activities in offices, shopping centers and traditional markets, the DKI Jakarta Provincial Government also requires all families and guests as well as officers in the implementation of marriage contracts at hotels and meeting buildings to be vaccinated against COVID-19.

The regulation is contained in the Decree of the Head of Tourism and Creative Economy Agency Number 495 of 2021 which was issued on July 26, 2021. The rules are valid until August 2, 2021.

Based on the regulation, said acting head of the DKI Jakarta Tourism and Creative Economy Agency, Gumilar Ekalaya, families, guests and marriage contract officers must show proof of vaccination certificates.

In addition, food is not allowed on the premises and the wedding reception is temporarily suspended. Provision of food is only allowed in a closed place to take home.

If we look at the facts of the development of the corona virus and efforts to overcome or control it in the capital, actually these regulations are not new. Most of the restrictions have become policies implemented starting March 15, 2020 or 12 days since it was announced that two residents of Depok (West Java) who were being treated by RSPI Sulianti Saroso Jakarta were infected with the corona virus on March 2, 2020.

At that time, the DKI Jakarta Provincial Government began to carry out various restrictions on public activities, ranging from restrictions on operating hours and the number of public transport fleets, closing tourist attractions, to reducing the number of employees working in the office.

The restrictions were then set in the framework of Large-Scale Social Restrictions (PSBB). Then it was extended several times and became a Transitional PSBB and then returned to the PSBB "emergency brake".

In recent months, the central government has implemented Community Activity Restrictions (PPKM). On July 3-20, Emergency PPKM was carried out for Java-Bali and PPKM Level 4 to July 25, which was then adjusted for the range from July 26 to August 2, 2021.

From a long series of 1.5 years controlling the spread of the corona virus, vaccination has been intensified since the last eight months. The goal is to create group immunity.

While there are some residents who are doubtful, even reluctant to be vaccinated, the obligation to have a COVID-19 vaccination certificate for various public activities seems to remove those doubts and reluctance.

The big goal is to achieve greater vaccination coverage in order to create group immunity to control the transmission of the virus.

So, instead of getting access to public activities increasingly limited, participating in vaccination to get a certificate as proof that you have been vaccinated is an instrument to reduce restrictions and barriers.