The Achievement Of Vaccination For The Elderly Is 70 Percent, The South Sumatra Health Service Is Still "Chasing Deposits"

Illustration of a COVID-19 vaccination. (Photo: Pexels/Gustavo Fring)

JAKARTA - The first dose of COVID-19 vaccination for the elderly (elderly) in 17 districts/cities in the South Sumatra Province has reached 70 percent or around 415,000 people. This achievement is quite good considering the target of the South Sumatra Provincial Health Office is 597,071 people.

Although close to the target, the South Sumatra Health Office will still boost vaccinations for the elderly. The reach will be further expanded so that the target can be achieved immediately.

The head of the South Sumatra Health Office, Lesty Nuaraini said, the elderly are a group of people who are at high risk of contracting COVID-19. "Elderly parents, despite their low mobility, have the potential to be infected by their children and family members who are actively working, attending school, and doing various other activities outside the home," he said, as reported by Antara.

According to Lesty, to break the chain of spread of COVID-19, it is necessary to provide maximum protection to the community by vaccination, especially for the elderly who are susceptible to contracting or transmitting the Corona virus.

For this reason, people who have family members who are elderly must take them to participate in vaccination services at health facilities and mass vaccination service centers organized by the Health Service, TNI, Polri and other agencies.

To vaccinate COVID-19 for the elderly and all other target groups in the South Sumatra region with a target of 6.3 million people by 2022, the South Sumatra Health Office has prepared 3,300 officers/vaccination. The vaccination service was carried out by means of mass activities in various places and 459 health facilities (faskes) spread throughout the local province.

Lesty said that by maximizing the vaccination, it is hoped that communal immunity (herd immunity) can be created in accordance with shared expectations.

Meanwhile, the overall achievement of COVID-19 vaccination in South Sumatra for the first dose is 93 percent more or around 5.8 million people from the target of 6.3 million people, while the second dose is around 71 percent, and booster vaccination is 4.92 percent or 311. thousand souls.