For Example In The US, Chatib Basri Suggests People Who Get Vaccinated Get Cash Assistance That Can Be Disbursed Through Indomaret, Alfamart, Or LinkAja

Former Minister of Finance, Chatib Basri. (Photo: Instagram @chatibbasri)

JAKARTA - Former Minister of Finance, Chatib Basri proposed that the government create a cash for vaccine program or direct cash assistance (BLT) given to residents who are willing to receive COVID-19 vaccination injections. The goal is to accelerate the national vaccination target.

"I want to suggest that the government actually has a social assistance called BLT. Why is some of the BLT made in what is called a conditional cash transfer called cash for vaccine. So if people want to get cash, they have to be vaccinated, so the process will be faster, " he said at the 'Economic Dialogue on Economic Performance in the Second Quarter 2021', virtually, Thursday, August 5.

This proposal, said Chatib, was based on data that a number of countries with high vaccination rates could show better economic performance. In the United States, for example, the economies of states with more than 50 percent of vaccinations can recover faster than countries with low vaccination percentages.

Seeing this trend, US President Joe Biden also asked state officials to offer cash payments worth 100 dollars to citizens as a form of incentive for those who have received the vaccine.

Furthermore, said Chatib, this method is also an impetus for increasing vaccination in the midst of the high spread of COVID-19 cases due to the spread of the delta variant of COVID-19. However, the proposal can be made with the assumption that the vaccine supply can be met.

"So if we can fulfill the supply of vaccines, then there is an incentive for people to vaccinate. Because I believe that if herd immunity occurs, then we can repeat what we experienced in the second quarter," he said.

In addition to providing BLT for residents who are willing to be vaccinated, Chatib also proposed that the Ministry of Social Affairs and the Ministry of Home Affairs cooperate with telecommunications companies to distribute aid. Where, social assistance can be distributed referring to data on the use of cellular phone sim card so that it is more targeted.

"It can be seen from the profiling of residents from purchasing a sim card, from their mobility. So later (social assistance) can be top up via a sim card, then it can be disbursed in cash at Indomaret, Alfamart, or LinkAja," he said.