Government Prepares Third Dose Vaccine Scenario

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JAKARTA - The Ministry of Health is preparing a scenario of a third dose booster vaccine as an effort to prevent transmission and mortality in groups susceptible to COVID-19.

Spokesperson for COVID-19 Vaccination from the Ministry of Health, Siti Nadia Tarmizi, said that the third dose booster vaccine will be prioritized for health workers and the elderly group.

"The first is health workers, the second is the elderly," said Nadia in a webinar themed "Nataru Holidays and New Variants of Strategies to Prevent the Third Wave of the COVID-19 Pandemic" as reported by Antara, Tuesday, November 16.

However, Nadia stressed that the government will first focus on the coverage of the first and second vaccinations, at least it has reached 60 percent to 70 percent, only after the third dose vaccination program is carried out.

Nadia explained that developed countries that have already carried out the third dose of vaccination tend to have the vaccine available. Meanwhile, low- and middle-income countries still have to struggle to meet the needs of vaccine doses for their population.

"So this is why the government even though we have made a scenario, but we will do it if our target for the first dose of vaccination and the elderly has reached 70 percent to 60 percent," he said. The first for the elderly only reached 44 percent or 9.5 million people. Whereas the elderly group is a society that is prone to falling ill and causing death if infected with COVID-19.

Nadia explained that the plan for the third dose of vaccine will be carried out in January or February 2022. After prioritizing health workers and the elderly, then the third dose of vaccine will be given an option to participants who receive Contribution Assistance (PBI) for the National Health Insurance Program-Healthy Indonesia Card (JKN-KIS). and the general public.

The Ministry of Health is still waiting for further studies from experts regarding the third dose of vaccination regarding its implementation.

"Because there is no study yet, when we give the vaccination, whether after six months of injection, or three months, we are waiting for the experts to carry out this third dose of booster vaccination," said Nadia.