Minister Of Health Budi: Rich People Do Not Necessarily Get The 'first Ticket' Of Paid Vaccines

Minister of Health Budi Gunadi Sadikin. (Photo: Doc. BNPB)

JAKARTA - Vaccination for COVID-19 through independent or paid channels is back in the discussion, after previously being abolished because President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) decided that the vaccine was given free of charge to all Indonesian people. These independent vaccination proposals come from entrepreneurs.

Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin admitted that he received many messages from entrepreneurs discussing the independent or paid vaccination for COVID-19.

According to Budi, there are several things that must be understood in the COVID-19 vaccination. First, keep in mind that this vaccination is not only intended to protect yourself, but is given to build herd immunity. With vaccination, it is hoped that the entire community can be protected.

For example, Budi said, if one country vaccines its entire population, but another country does not vaccinate, then the transmission of COVID-19 can still occur.

"This is to protect our families, our neighbors, the Indonesian people and all human people. This is a very socialist program, not a very individualistic program," he said, at the Kompas100 CEO Forum event, Thursday, January 21.

The second note, Budi said that entrepreneurs can help the vaccination process through independent vaccines, but it must be given as evenly as possible. Not only certain people or groups.

"Third, I ask to make sure that this has been given as the right of all the people to get it for free. So whatever the mechanism was, I am open as long as it is as fast as possible, as much as possible, as cheaply as possible for all Indonesian people," he said.

Budi advised conglomerates who wanted to carry out independent vaccination not to prioritize injecting the COVID-19 vaccine to the rich first.

"So if there are friends who want to help, that's okay, but those 3 things must be understood. This one is something that has to happen in all people, not just a group, because it's useless either," he explained.

As is well known, the stages of COVID-19 vaccination in Indonesia will be carried out on health workers first. A total of 1.4 million medical personnel will get vaccinated from January to February.

Then, in public sector workers as many as 17 million people in March to April, continued with the elderly as many as 25 million people. Meanwhile, vaccination for the general public will be carried out at the end of April or May.

Previously, President Joko Widodo considered proposals from business actors to independently vaccinate COVID-19. Currently this proposal is still being discussed by the government.

One of the considerations for this proposal is that it can accelerate the vaccination program needed by Indonesia to control the COVID-19 pandemic at home.

"This is what we are just about to decide, because of what, because we need to accelerate, it needs to be as much as possible. What else will the costs be borne by the company itself, why not?" he said, when virtually opening Kompas100 CEO Forum 2021, Thursday, January 21.

However, Jokowi said there needed to be a difference between vaccinations that the government provides for free and vaccinations through independent channels. One of them is the difference in the use of vaccine types. He also asked that this issue be managed properly so that people would not be caught wrongly.

"Maybe it can be given (independent vaccine) as long as the brand of vaccine is different, the place to do the vaccine is also different, it can be done," he said.

Currently, Indonesia has made commitments to purchase vaccines with a number of manufacturers such as Sinovac, Novavax, AstraZeneca, and Pfizer.

Jokowi is also optimistic that vaccinations can be completed in less than one year for the 182.5 million targets vaccinated. This is done by counting the number of vaccinators, health centers, and hospitals currently available.

"This is why I have ever said that there is no one year that we should be able to complete our vaccinations, because the numbers I have calculated we can," he said.