The Booster Vaccine Has Been Started, Don't Forget The 70 Percent Target First For The Complete Dose

Member of Commission IX DPR RI Netty Prasetiyani (Photo via party page)

JAKARTA - The government began injecting the third dose of vaccine or booster vaccine starting January 12 yesterday. Member of Commission IX of the DPR from the PKS faction, Netty Prasetiyani, reminded the government again to prioritize full-dose vaccination for 70 percent of the targeted target.

"Although booster vaccination is currently being carried out, the government must not forget its obligation to achieve the 70 percent vaccination target (complete dose) for the community. Moreover, until this week, only 56.04 percent of people received the complete dose of vaccine," said Netty, Thursday, January 13.

In addition, the Government must also ensure whether the vaccination coverage in the regions is evenly distributed or not. Especially the acceleration of vaccination for rural areas that are far from the reach of the local government.

The PKS politician also highlighted that there are many provinces in Indonesia whose first dose of vaccination has not reached 70 percent, such as West Sulawesi, Maluku, West Sumatra, West Papua and Papua. Do not let, he said, other areas, especially on the island of Java, have received booster vaccines, while there are areas where the first dose is not yet 70 percent. "The government must implement affirmative policies for certain regions as a priority to pursue vaccination achievements," said the Deputy Chair of the PKS Fraction at the Indonesian House of Representatives.

The West Java legislator agreed with the policy of free vaccines for the general public. According to Netty, vaccination is a game changer to fight the COVID-19 pandemic regardless of the dose given.

"Vaccines must remain as public goods as long as there is a threat of the COVID-19 Pandemic. We must learn from the past when many people were reluctant to take vaccinations, even though vaccinations were free. The important thing that must also be done is educating the public about booster vaccine scheme so that they can access the booster vaccine," he said.

Most importantly, said Netty, the government must ensure the availability of vaccine stocks that will be used for boosters. The reason is, many combinations and types of vaccines will be used. "Therefore, the availability of vaccines must be ensured to be safe, including cold storage so that it reaches the area optimally. Has the data in the PeduliLindung application been fixed? Do not let the public not register booster vaccines because the careLindung application has problems. The government must also prepare a scheme so that People who don't have smart phones and the careLindung application can still get the booster vaccine for free," he said.