Coordinating Minister Airlangga: Independent Vaccination Remains Free, Companies Must Buy And Are Not Allowed To Cut Salaries

Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs, Airlangga Hartarto. (Photo: Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs)

JAKARTA - Coordinating Minister for the Economy Airlangga Hartarto emphasized that although the government has opened independent channels for employees throughout Indonesia, there has been no commercialization of the COVID-19 vaccine.

According to Airlangga, both vaccines from the government and vaccinations independently are provided free of charge or free to the public.

"There is no commercialization of independent vaccines. Both independently and from the government, all is free. Companies that will buy independent vaccines for their employees cannot deduct employee salaries," he said, in a written statement received by VOI, Monday, January 25.

The implementation of independent vaccination, said Airlangga, is still waiting for the vaccination priority to be completed. Currently, the government is still at the stage of providing vaccines for health workers.

In addition, the Chairperson of the Committee for Handling COVID-19 and National Economic Recovery (KPCPEN) asked the public to be willing to report any violations of the COVID-19 vaccination program.

"Please report to the authorities if asked to pay. Whoever the community is, the COVID-19 vaccine is still free," he said.

Independent line vaccination has not yet been determined

Airlangga said that the government also did not know when independent vaccination would begin. According to him, currently the Ministry of Health (Kemenkes) is still drafting this vaccination regulation.

However, Airlangga emphasized that the intermediate vaccine brands for free vaccination from the government with independent vaccines are different. Even so, the government has yet to decide what brand of vaccine to use for independent vaccines.

Meanwhile, Chairman of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) Rosan Perkasa Roeslani admitted that the industry is ready to participate in the success of the vaccination program in Indonesia. He admitted that he had proposed independent vaccination through the private sector. This aims to reduce the burden on the state.

As is known, the self-contained COVID-19 vaccine is intended for employees or workers, as well as employees' families.

"The private sector is ready to distribute vaccines on the list of the Ministry of Health that have obtained permission from BPOM to the public," explained Rosan.

According to Rosan, opening up independent vaccination access to the private sector not only reduces costs incurred by the government, but also accelerates vaccination for the public.

Rosan admitted that self-vaccination for employees is more effective for companies to prevent the spread of the virus in the company. Moreover, if an employee is confirmed positive for COVID-19, it will require maintenance costs and an impact on the company's performance to prevent further spread within the company.

"This is what we need in the future, so that the health sector and the affected economy can be controlled and grow," he said.