Good News! Booster Vaccine For The Elderly Begins In Early 2022, Some Are Independent Or Provided By The Government

Illustration (Photo by Mufid Majnun on Unsplash)

JAKARTA - Spokesperson for the COVID-19 Vaccination of the Indonesian Ministry of Health, Siti Nadia Tarmizi, said the government was planning to accelerate the delivery of booster vaccines or the third dose to the public in early 2022.

"The government has planned to start the third additional dose of vaccination as early as 2022," said Nadia in the Main Tuesday Productive Dialogue entitled "Starting the New Year with New Habits" which was followed online in Jakarta, Tuesday, December 28.

Nadia said that the reason the government is currently considering expediting the administration of a booster vaccine in early 2022 is because of the very fast transmission rate of Omicron and the discovery of the local transmission of the new variant of COVID-19.

The third dose of vaccine is planned to be given through two different schemes, namely through an independent scheme and a scheme funded by the government.

According to Nadia, in the independent scheme, the community can access the vaccine independently. Meanwhile, in the scheme covered by the government, vaccines will be given from the government to people who fall into vulnerable groups such as the elderly. Given the risk of new variants and also we know that there is a decrease in the efficacy of the vaccine," she said as quoted by Antara.

In addition to giving booster vaccines, Nadia said that her party also targets that 208,265,720 million Indonesians will be vaccinated against COVID-19 in March 2022.

This includes vaccinations given to children 6-11 years old. It is estimated that this can be completed in June 2022.

Finally, she appealed to all parties who have not been vaccinated to immediately go to the nearest health facility to get the COVID-19 vaccine or to complete the vaccine dose that has been obtained.

It is also hoped that all parties will remain disciplined in carrying out health protocols to avoid the transmission of various variants resulting from the mutation of the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19.

"According to the discipline of health protocols, never be careless and remember that the pandemic is not over yet. We want 2022 with a new spirit and of course with a new situation that can get out of this COVID-19 pandemic situation," she stressed.