How Many Malang Residents Have Been Injected With Boosters? Only 14.5 Percent Due To Small Vaccine Stock

Photo by Parang Mehta on Unsplash

JAKARTA - Bad news came from Malang City, East Java. In this city, the provision of new booster vaccines is 14.5 percent of the total target set of 856 thousand people.

Malang Mayor Sutiaji explained the obstacles they face in accelerating the implementation of giving booster vaccines for residents. One of them is related to the availability of vaccines in the region.

"Booster is still at 14.5 percent. The problem is still related to the availability of vaccines", said Sutiaji, Monday, March 14, as reported by Antara.

Sutiaji explained, in the initial provisions, giving booster vaccines is at least six months after getting the full dose of vaccine. However, the government changed the provision, from the previous six months to three months.

According to him, the Malang City Government is currently trying to accelerate the provision of booster vaccines and asks the public to continue to implement strict and disciplined health protocols, especially when doing activities outside the home.

"I ask the public that we are no longer restrictions but health protocols and we will continue to control (the spread of COVID-19). Health protocols come first", he said.

Meanwhile, the Head of the Malang City Health Office, Dr. Husnul Muarif, added that his party had just received 300 vials of the Pfizer type of booster vaccine. A total of 300 vials that can be used for 2,000 people have been distributed to existing health centers.

"We just received it from the province and the ministry. Yesterday we only got 300 vials of Pfizer or around 2,000 doses, it's really limited", he said.

He added the provision of the booster vaccine is currently still focused on people with the age group above 18 years. If shortly the Health Office receives a supply of vaccines again, it will be immediately distributed to existing hospitals.

"Currently, it is only 14.5 percent. As soon as the vaccine arrives, it will be distributed immediately. This is temporarily coming to the health center first, then coming again for clinics and hospitals", he said.

Meanwhile, he continued, regarding the use of thousands of AstraZeneca vaccines that have passed their expiration date, the Malang City Health Office is still waiting for regulations from the Ministry of Health and the Indonesian Technical Advisory Group of Immunization (ITAGI).

"(The letter of recommendation) has not yet been issued, so the booster we are using today is Pfizer. AstraZeneca has not yet been used", he said.

It was recorded that the achievement of vaccination in the Malang City area for the first dose was 115 percent and the second dose was 110 percent.

In the region, there were 28,034 positive confirmed cases of COVID-19 with 923 active cases. Of the total confirmed cases, as many as 25,932 people were reported to have recovered, and 1,179 people were declared dead.