Minister Of Health Budi: Vaccination Is An Effort To Prevent Death Due To COVID-19

Minister of Health Budi Gunadi Sadikin (Photo: Antara)

JAKARTA - Minister of Health Budi Gunadi Sadikin said vaccination was one of the efforts to prevent the risk of death from COVID-19.

"The way to reduce fatalities is to get a vaccine quickly," said Minister of Health Budi at a press conference regarding the results of the PPKM Ratas which was followed online in Jakarta, reported by Antara, Monday, February 14.

Therefore, he hopes that all people who have not been vaccinated against COVID-19, especially the elderly and those who have comorbidities (comorbidities) under control, to immediately get a complete vaccination and booster (booster).

He said a complete two-dose vaccination was needed considering that the current case of death from COVID-19 was dominated by patients who had not been vaccinated or had not completed two doses.

He said that 60 percent of cases of death due to COVID-19 were due to not being vaccinated or not being fully vaccinated with two doses. Likewise, those who enter the ICU, 60 percent are also due to not being vaccinated or incomplete.

"So ladies and gentlemen, please help our brothers and sisters to get vaccinated immediately," he said.

Currently, he said, only seven provinces have complete vaccination rates that have reached 70 percent. And only four provinces that vaccinate 70 percent for the elderly, namely Jakarta, Bali, Yogyakarta, and Riau Islands (Riau Islands).

Previously, the Spokesperson for the COVID-19 Vaccination of the Ministry of Health, Siti Nadia Tarmizi said that patients who have comorbidities and have not received complete vaccinations are the biggest victims of COVID-19.

"Data from the Ministry of Health for the period January 21 to February 8, 2022, shows that of the 487 COVID-19 patients who died, 66 percent of them have not been fully vaccinated," she said.

She said the government continues to fight hard to prevent more victims from occurring, one of which is by encouraging vaccination.

"Vaccination, especially for the elderly, people who have comorbidities, and children must be accelerated and expanded," she stressed.

She said that vaccination was scientifically proven to be able to reduce the risk of illness and death from being infected with COVID-19.

Until now, she said, the COVID-19 vaccine used in Indonesia still has good effectiveness in producing antibodies for any variant of COVID-19, including Omicron.