MPR Chair Asks Ministry Of Health To Apply For Astrazeneca Vaccine Side Effects

The Impact of COVID-19 (ANTARA)

JAKARTA - Chairman of the Indonesian People's Consultative Assembly Bambang Soesatyo (Bamsoet) asked the Ministry of Health (Kemenkes) to be outspoken about the side effects of the COVID-19 vaccine from England, AstraZeneca. After producer AstraZeneca admitted for the first time that the vaccines they produced in general could cause very rare side effects, namely Thrombosis with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome or VITT (Vacine Immune Thrombosis with Thrombocytopenia). Which is a rare syndrome characterized by thrombosis (blood clots) and thrombositopenia (low number of platelets).

"Ask the government, in this case the Ministry of Health, not to cover up information about the side effects of the AZ vaccine, and ask for the openness of the COVID-19 vaccine manufacturer AZ to explain to the public no matter how small the effects it causes the vaccine," said Bamsoet in his statement, Friday, May 3. Bamsoet encouraged the government together with the National Commission for the Study and Overcoming of Post-Immunization Adverse Events (Komnas PP KIPI) to immediately respond to the news by conducting a more intensive survey. "Although the results of active and passive surveillance are still being carried out by Komnas KIPI, there has been no TTS incident after the use of the AZ vaccine in Indonesia," he said.

Bamsoet also asked the Ministry of Health to encourage AstraZeneca vaccine producers to continue to test the vaccine in order to find out the side effects caused by vaccinations that were carried out before being injected into humans. "The AZ vaccine manufacturer must explain in detail so as not to cause unrest in the community," he said.

The Golkar legislator also encouraged the Indonesia Technical Advisory Group of Immunization (ITAGI) to continue to monitor the side effects caused by each case of the COVID-19 vaccine in all countries, for further research purposes.

"And ask the Ministry of Health together with Komnas PP KIPI to continue to monitor the public through active and passive surveillance after the COVID-19 immunization, especially for people who receive the AstraZeneca vaccine to ensure that there are no cases of AstraZeneca side effects," he concluded.