Third Dose Of Vaccination For Healthcare Workers In Mataram Postponed

JAKARTA - The Regional General Hospital of Mataram City, West Nusa Tenggara Province, stated that around 40 health workers on duty at the hospital were postponed from receiving the third dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.

This is because some are still confirmed positive for COVID-19 and some are not even three months after being negative for COVID-19.

"So, of the 1,100 health workers at the Regional General Hospital, around 40 health workers have been postponed to receive the third dose of COVID-19 vaccine as a booster", said the Deputy Director of Services at the Mataram City Hospital, Dr. Tris Cahyoso in Mataram, as reported by Antara, Tuesday, August 10.

A health worker who has just recovered from COVID-19 must wait three months after being tested negative before being given a third dose of vaccine.

With the delay in administering the third dose of COVID-19 vaccine to dozens of health workers, the stock of Moderna vaccine provided by the Health Service of 74 vials for 1,100 health workers will be excessive.

"The excess stock of the Moderna vaccine will be returned to the Health Office or reallocated to the nearest hospital or health center in need", he said.

Meanwhile, related to the booster vaccination coverage for health workers at the Mataram City Hospital, Tris, said that the distribution began on Thursday, August 5, and as of today, 389 health workers have been vaccinated for the third time.

The realization of the third dose of COVID-19 vaccine coverage for health workers at the Mataram City Hospital, according to him, did not meet the set target, namely 140 health workers per day so that the vaccination could be completed within eight days.

"At that time, we targeted eight days, considering that all health workers are in good health. But it turns out that conditions in the field are different and not all health workers are ready to be vaccinated because some are unwell and are still in self-isolation so that their vaccination is postponed", he said.

However, the quota for COVID-19 vaccination services at the Mataram City Hospital remains for 300 people a day. Thus, the quota for the second dose of vaccination services will remain open through online registration.

"Registration is usually open in the afternoon, for about 20-30 minutes. But if there are a lot of registrants and the quota is met, we can close sooner", he said.

The waiting list for the second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine has now begun to decrease, with the number of around 480 people from around 1,000 people last week.