President: Booster Vaccination Now Difficult To Find Participants

President Joko Widodo (ANTARA/Gilang Galiartha) (PHOTO ANTARA/Gilang Galiartha)

BOGOR - President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) said that the implementation of a booster dose of COVID-19 vaccination is now difficult to find participants, even though this is recommended, especially since cases in Indonesia have also returned to an increasing curve.

The President hopes that the increase will not continue to be significant. Jokowi reminded people who have not received a booster vaccination to do so immediately.

"I also conveyed our anticipation a month or two ago about boosters. Everything is boosters", the President told reporters after attending the #KitaPrakerja Gathering at the Sentul International Convention Center, Bogor Regency, West Java, quoted by Antara, Friday, June 17.

"There are vaccines, there are still tens of millions, that's all soon. Right now, we are having booster vaccinations, looking for participants", he added.

On the other hand, the President said that despite an increase in cases due to exposure to the Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 variants, the positive ratio of daily specimens (positivity rate) for COVID-19 is still below the safe standard version of the World Health Organization (WHO) which is 5 percent.

"But whatever, we have to be vigilant. Even though we haven't gone up yet, I've also said that not once, not twice, not three times. Be alert, be alert, be alert", he said.

Based on data from the Task Force for Handling COVID-19 as of Thursday, June 16, 2022, there were 1,173 new cases added, while 48.2 million people have received booster vaccines in Indonesia.

Minister of Health Budi Gunadi Sadikin estimates that the peak of COVID-19 cases of the Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 variants will only reach a maximum of 25,000 cases per day.

This is reflected in the experiences of several other countries that have already passed the peak phase of the BA.4 and BA.5 variants of COVID-19 cases, the number of which is only around a third of the peak cases of the Omicron or Delta variants.

In other countries, the peak phase occurs approximately one month after the first case was identified, so in Indonesia, the peak of cases of BA.4 and BA.5 variants is estimated to occur in the third and fourth week of July 2022.