COVID Task Force: Booster Vaccine Doses From 34 Provinces Still Below 30 Percent, Only Bali Above 50

Coordinator of the Expert Team and Government Spokesperson for Handling COVID-19 Wiku Adisasmito/ANTARA

JAKARTA - The Coordinator of the Expert Team and Government Spokesperson for Handling COVID-19 Wiku Adisasmito said the national booster vaccination coverage was only 24 percent. This coverage does not appear significant.

"In addition, for 28 of 34 provinces, vaccine coverage is still below 30 percent. Only Bali has above 50 percent, followed by DKI and Riau Islands with above 40 percent, and DIY, West Java and East Kalimantan with above 30 percent. " said Wiku at an online press conference attended in Jakarta, Antara, Friday, July 1.

Wiku said that since starting in January 2022, the progress of booster vaccination has been slower than the one and two doses.

At the beginning of the implementation of the first and second doses of vaccination, coverage can increase by 60 percent within a period of 6 months, which is between June to December 2021.

"However, for the booster vaccination at the same time, from January to June 2022, the coverage has only increased by 20 percent. Increasing the booster vaccine coverage requires the participation of all levels of society," he said.

Wiku asked local governments to protect their respective areas by re-promoting booster vaccination. Then ensure that the public is well educated about the importance of booster vaccination.

"Please also immediately coordinate with the Ministry of Health regarding the availability and distribution of vaccines as needed. Currently, large-scale community activities already require industry, for participants, and in the future it will soon become a requirement to be able to enter public facilities," said Wiku .

For this reason, he asked to immediately carry out a booster vaccination and invite all family and relatives to do it immediately.

Wiku said that Indonesia had again experienced an increasing trend of COVID-19 cases globally and nationally after the emergence of new Omicor subvariants, namely BA.4 and BA.5.

Based on data from GISAID that in the past month, more than 99 percent of the variants reported from Indonesia were Omicron variants including the two variants.

Wiku said that geographically the distribution of the Omicron variant is quite even on the islands of Sumatra, Java, Kalimantan and Sulawesi. In addition, there is an increasing trend of bed accuracy in the emergency hospital at Wisma Atlet.

However, the average impact of this Omicron variant was not observed to cause high mortality rates in various countries. "Scientists argue that this is due to the hybrid immunity caused by both vaccination and previous COVID-19 infections," he said.

Reflecting on this, the Indonesian government tries to remain optimal in carrying out all control efforts, both through vaccination and implementation of health protocols.

"From the ups and downs of the history of COVID-19 cases, the government realizes the importance of clean and healthy living behavior as a behavior that is applied in a sustainable manner. In principle, we must remain alert, disciplined, and never be negligent, both when the condition of the COVID-19 case rises or slopes," said he.

In addition, Wiku said various waivers in activities such as wearing masks only indoors must be carried out responsibly, especially for people who are sick so that they do not move first and are required to wear masks.

This is a form of anticipation if there will be the emergence of a new variant or an inevitable increase in cases. So at least, there is no significant spike in the number of cases and death rates.