Can Vaccines For The Elderly Be Done Door To Door To Make It Easy?

COVID-19 Task Force Spokesperson Wiku Adisasmito (Photo: BNPB doc)

JAKARTA - The stages of giving COVID-19 vaccination to the elderly or elderly are already underway. It's just that there are still a number of elderly people who claim to be confused about registering themselves as vaccine recipients.

So, is it possible for the government to apply the COVID-19 vaccine door to door?

Spokesperson for the Task Force (Task Force) Handling COVID-19, Wiku Adisasmito, said that the current government can only vaccinate health facilities. Regarding the difficulties faced by the elderly, he said the government would continue to socialize in various media.

"For current vaccinations, it can only be done in health facilities, both at health centers and in hospitals," Wiku said in a press conference broadcast on the BNPB YouTube account, Tuesday, February 23.

Furthermore, he explained there are two mechanisms that can be accessed by the elderly to access the national vaccination program.

The first way is to carry out vaccinations in the health facilities that have been provided. In this mechanism, the elderly only need to register by accessing the website of the Ministry of Health (Kemenkes) and the Health Office until the COVID-19 Task Force Posko at the RT / RW level is asked to provide assistance primarily for those who feel difficulties.

Meanwhile, the second method, said Wiku, is to participate in mass vaccination through organizations and agencies. "For this method, the organization, agencies can work with the Ministry of Health or the Health Office to carry out mass vaccinations for the elderly," he said.

Furthermore, Wiku explained that the elderly need to get vaccinated. This is because 43.8 percent of the death toll due to COVID-19 was contributed by the 60 and over age group.

"Indeed, it only contributes 10.7 percent of all positive cases. However, what needs to be underlined that 48.3 percent of the COVID-19 cases in Indonesia are from the elderly," he explained.

He explained that this mortality rate is high because as the aging process, the immune function in the human body tends to decline. In addition, the elderly often have comorbid or comorbid diseases such as heart and blood vessel disease, respiratory disease, or kidney problems.

So, with the vulnerability of the risk of transmission and the high level of severity, the government is prioritizing the elderly to get the COVID-19 vaccine, which will be given twice with an interval of 28 days.

Previously reported, the COVID-19 vaccine program in the country since last January 13. In the national COVID-19 vaccination program, the government is targeting 181.5 million vaccine targets. They are people aged 18 years and over. Vaccine recipients receive twice the injection dose.

In the first phase, the vaccine is intended for 1.5 million health workers. As of today, health workers who have received the first dose of vaccination are 73.47 percent and the second dose is 29.85 percent.

Then, in the second stage, COVID-19 vaccination is intended for the elderly and public service workers. The target is 21.5 million elderly and 16.9 million public workers. This program lasts until May.

They are market traders, educators, religious leaders and counselors, representatives of the people, officials, government, civil servants, TNI-Polri, tourism officers, public services, public transportation workers, athletes, and media workers.

Furthermore, vaccination will be carried out for 63.9 million vulnerable people or people living in areas with high risk of infection. Then, other communities as many as 77.7 million people. This program will be carried out from April 2021 to March 2022.