COVID-19 Task Force: Omicron BA.4 And BA.5 Subvariants Dominate 81 Percent Of Cases In Indonesia

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

JAKARTA - Coordinator of the Expert Team and Spokesperson for COVID-19 Handling Wiku Adisasmito said the distribution of the new Omicron subvariants, namely BA.4 and BA.5, dominated around 81 percent of the national COVID-19 variant.

"Reflecting on experience in other countries, generally the peak of cases occurred around 16 to 33 days. Meanwhile, the peak of hospitalization was around 29-49 days since this subvariance was first discovered," said Wiku during an online press conference attended in Jakarta, Antara, Wednesday, Wednesday. July 13th.

Wiku added that if examined, the two subvariants appeared on June 6, 2022 or about 36 days ago, so there is still the potential for an increase in cases in the future. However, this potential can be prevented if you practice a clean and healthy lifestyle.

In addition, Wiku also quoted President Joko Widodo's statement at the celebration of the Eid al-Adha on July 10, 2022, which emphasized the importance of wearing a mask wherever you are, solely for safety in the midst of conditions of virus transmission that are increasing again.

"Perhaps many also wonder the importance of continuing to follow health protocols after they have been vaccinated with a booster. In fact, data and facts show that people who do not do this can get infected again even though they have been vaccinated with a booster," he said.

Wiku explained that in principle, vaccines have three major benefits, namely preventing infection, preventing worsening of symptoms if infected, and reducing the number of viruses in the body so that they are not easily transmitted.

A person who has been fully vaccinated, even a booster does not guarantee to be 100 percent immune from COVID-19.

"As the POM Agency routinely conducts after the announcement of emergency use of authorization (permit for emergency use) that the average efficacy during clinical trials never reaches 100 percent perfect, even for vaccines for other diseases," said Wiku.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has determined that the ideal percentage of efficacy rates for vaccines that are suitable for use is 50 percent, where all vaccines in Indonesia have efficacy above that number so that all existing vaccines are guaranteed to be effective, Wiku continued.

The discovery of reinfection even after being vaccinated or breakthrough infection can happen to everyone, especially vulnerable populations such as people with impaired immunity, comorbid patients, and the elderly, he said.

"Breakthrough infections will occur more often if the increase in the number of viruses around us is not balanced with high compliance with health protocols," said Wiku.