Kemenkes-FKM UI Survey: 98.5 Percent Of Indonesians Have COVID-19 Antibodies

ILLUSTRATION-UNSPLASH/Mufid Majnun

JAKARTA - Epidemiologist from the University of Indonesia dr Iwan Ariawan, MSPH said that currently as many as 98.5 percent of the people in Indonesia already have SARS-CoV-2 antibodies that make people's bodies have immunity to COVID-19.

"This is the result of a survey between the Ministry of Health and FKM UI. If you look at it in July 2022, it turns out that 98.5 percent of Indonesians already have antibodies for COVID-19," Iwan said as quoted by ANTARA, Monday, November 7.

This rate is increased when compared to the December 2021 period, which was 87.8 percent.

"Now it's November, there should be more Indonesians who have these antibodies."

The study refers to the SARS-CoV-2 serological survey in Indonesia which took place in the period mentioned. Interestingly, from the same survey it was also found that the levels of the SARS-CoV-2 antibody in the Indonesian people increased more than four times.

Iwan said that in December 2021, on average, Indonesians had 444.1 units of SARS-CoV-2 antibody per milliliter (U/ml).

Within one semester after that or July 2022, on average this number increased significantly to 2097 U/ml or almost five times.

The antibodies against COVID-19 owned by the Indonesian people can be obtained in two steps, namely completing the COVID-19 vaccination or having been exposed to COVID-19.

From his presentation, Iwan emphasized that the presence of the COVID-19 vaccine did have an important role in controlling cases of this respiratory disease.

However, the current condition is that there are still many Indonesians who have not received the "booster" vaccine compared to recipients of the complete vaccine consisting of two doses of vaccine.

This can be seen from the data compiled by the Ministry of Health as of November 7, 2022, at 11.29 WIB, for the total administration of the first dose of vaccine has reached 87.4 percent of the population and the second vaccine has reached 73.2 percent of the population.

However, the number of giving the third vaccine dose in the country unfortunately only touched 27.8 percent of the population.

Whereas when a person has received three injections of the COVID-19 vaccine, the severity when exposed to the disease can be minimal, especially for vulnerable groups.

Especially considering that this virus mutates rapidly and produces more subvariants, the administration of the COVID-19 vaccine should still be a priority step in handling this pandemic.

Of course, when the "booster" vaccination achievement is also accelerated, it is possible that the community's antibody level will be higher and help Indonesia meet the status of the end of the pandemic faster.

Therefore, he encouraged the public to actively supplement their vaccine doses by visiting health facilities that provide vaccine injections.

"You just need the community's desire to be vaccinated. Because if you really want to end the pandemic, vaccination is important along with health protocols," said Iwan.